Camp ASCCA adds two new programs: Golf and Bocce Ball!

This summer, Camp ASCCA campers will have the opportunity to take advantage of two NEW programs! Camp now offers golf and bocce ball.

Golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. At Camp ASCCA, we believe people with disabilities should be a part of this popularity. We are not alone in this belief, because golf is also one of the fastest growing sports in Special Olympics. Considering all of this, we are proposing building an accessible driving range at Camp ASCCA.

This range will be unique because it will be located at our lakefront program area. This means that we will using “floating” golf balls that the campers will hit at targets located in the water.The benefits of this program are many. First, golf provides a series of failures followed by elating successes. Golf improves hand-eye coordination, builds self-esteem, improves motor skills, and enhances cognitive development. Our driving range will introduce some of our campers to a sport that they may have never had the opportunity to participate in. It will also provide an opportunity for some of our campers with head injuries and spinal cord injuries an opportunity to “reconnect” with a sport that they may have enjoyed prior to their injury.

Once our campers experience our driving range, we believe that the will want to continue the activity in their lives away from camp. This feeling of “wanting to continue after camp” is an outcome that we encourage by participation in our recreational and educational activities.

Bocce Ball is another rapidly growing sport in the Special Olympics that our campers will be able to experience. I, personally, wasn’t familiar with Bocce until I came to Camp ASCCA, so I thought I’d share a little bit about the sport. According to the Special Olympics’ Web site:

Bocce is a game of skill and strategy. The object is for one team to get as many of their balls (boccia) closer to the pallina (the smallest ball) than the opposing team’s closest ball.There may be anywhere from two to four to eight players on a team. Each player is given two balls. Each player must then take turns rolling (lagging) the ball toward the pallina ball (also known as the jack, cue, beebee etc.), which has already been thrown onto the field. The players are given points for the balls rolled closest to the pallina ball. Players may also throw on the fly (volo), striking the ball to move the point ball. Balls, including the pallina, may also be displaced by the balls of other players.

Both of these activities were made possible by the efforts of PI KAPPA PHI’s PUSH Camp earlier this spring, during which more than 20 young men from around the country came to Camp ASCCA to work and build. Our program staff are certainly looking forward to sharing these new activities with our campers, and we’re grateful to PI KAPPA PHI for their part in this.