Asthmatic children compete at CSULB
By Andres Cardenas
Daily Forty-Niner
Asthmatic Southern California children competed at Cal State Long
Beach last weekend in track and field events during the Air Power
Games.
More than 90 children between the ages of 5-14 competed in events such
as the 50-meter dash, long jump, obstacle course and softball throw. Among
those in attendance at the Air Power Games was Andy Sythe, 49er track and
field head coach.
"I am just interested," Sythe said. "Coming out to watch and support
and encourage these young kids."
Sythe knows their troubles since he has coached athletes with
asthma.
"We have a lot of asthmatic kids on our team," Sythe said.
"They are pretty good athletes, but they suffer from that disability,
if you look at it as a disability.
Sythe said the games have been around since 1990.
Richard Tussing, director of the track and field event, has been helping
out for about six years.
Tussing agreed with Sythe about the goal of the day.
"I think the main thing we try to get across with them is just the fact
that even though they have some respiratory problems, asthma and allergies,
they can still mainstream into other events with some of the other kids,"
Tussing said.
For the parents of the athletes, the games were more than just winning
and losing a race.
The Air Power Games were about giving self-confidence to the kids.
Lynette Williams is a parent who knows what the Air Power Games means
for the children.
She has had a daughter compete with the respiratory disability and watched
her son compete at Jack Rose Memorial Track. |
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