Wheelchair athlete takes on disc golf

Being in a wheelchair need not be a barrier to playing disc golf.

Evan Fenrich showed that Saturday when the 27-year-old athlete participated in the third annual Sandy Beach Disc Golf Tournament.

Fenrich was born with spina bifda, a birth defect where there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. He is a parapalegic, disabled from the waist down.

For Fenrich disc golf was just another sports challenge, one of many he has already faced.

“I got into sports early in my life,” he said. “I started basketball at eight-years-old.

“And I recently just started playing badminton.”

Fenrich said he undertook both as a way to be active and have fun.

“I started playing basketball for something to do for sport as a disabled person, and I fell in love with it and carried myself in the sport to make it to the provincial team since I was 16,” he said.

“As for badminton I wanted to try my hand at an individual sport. So far it's going well.”

Like all athletes Fenrich said the key to making it to a top level in a sport is hard work and dedication.

“For sure it takes a lot of hard work and practice to get to where I am,” he said. “For basketball I practiced two-three times a week.

“Badminton I just started, so I am practicing once a week. I plan on practicing more with my coach hopefully soon. Additionally, it takes more than team sanctioned practices to be able to hold your own with the best. The more practice the better.”

So how does hitting the links at the Sandy Beach course, his family has a cabin there, compare for Fenrich.

“Disc golf compares to badminton in terms of a backhand swinging motion of a badminton racquet,” he said, following his first taste in the third annual tournament. “Other than that comparison I find it very different. In badminton and basketball I'm always wheeling around, as where in disc golf I am at a standstill throwing a disc.

“The muscles I found I mostly used in disc golf was around my elbow extending my forearm every time I throw. In basketball and badminton I mostly use my biceps and triceps. So it is completely different muscles I have used.

“I am still sore two-days later.”

But the round of 18 was something Fenrich said he enjoyed for more than the athletic aspect.

“It was a great first experience,” he said. “I always enjoy trying a new sport. The most fun about it was learning from other players on different techniques, and just spending the day outside.

“I love being outdoors.”

And the sport is challenging too.

“The most challenging aspect was watching other players get a running start when throwing the disc, while I had to just sit and throw,” said Fenrich. “It is not easy wheeling around in grass and doing everything else.

“Also I have steel rods in my back fused to spine and pelvis limiting my turning motion so I can't use my hips throwing.”

In spite of the challenges, the athlete in Fenrich wants to take on the sport again.

“I would love to play again,” he said. “I would love to learn and get better at the sport. I would love to play as much as I can around my schedule with the other sports that I play.”

--Submitted by the Parkland Association of Disc Golf