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OLYMPICS: NMU facility enjoys a new lease on life
January 19, 2005
BY JO-ANN BARNAS
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Hard to believe that not long ago the Olympic movement was close to losing one of its most valuable assets.
Anyone who has visited the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette can attest to the program's success. In addition to churning out Olympians and national team members in an array of sports, the center is the only one in the nation that offers athletes an education as well.
Until last month, though, the training center had been on the brink of closing because of a lack of money. Northern Michigan University's general fund contribution to the center had dropped substantially (from $600,000 to $80,000) because of cost-saving measures in response to cuts in state higher education funding.
The program was saved Dec. 8 when President George W. Bush signed a spending package that earmarked $440,000 in operational funding for the center. The stipend was inserted into the federal Omnibus Appropriations bill by U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee.
The appropriation will keep the Olympic education center operating for at least five years, said director Jeff Kleinschmidt.
"Just over a year ago, I remember telling our athletes and coaches to let us worry about the funding situation," Kleinschmidt said. "It ended up being easier said than done. I know there were some anxious times for them."
About 90 resident athletes are currently at the training center in five sports -- Greco-Roman wrestling, women's freestyle wrestling, weightlifting, short track speedskating and boxing. The Detroit area is represented by one athlete, women's wrestler Brandy Rosenbrock of St. Clair Shores, said Matt Hanson, the center's director of media relations.
There's more good news: The center is planning a series of events to celebrate its 20th anniversary, culminating with the national short track speedskating championships -- an event that will determine the 2006 U.S. Olympic team.
The championships are scheduled for Dec. 12-16 at the Berry Events Center on the Northern Michigan campus.
U.S. Speedskating cited the center's successful hosting of a 2003 World Cup, which featured standing-room crowds, as the reason for awarding it the event.
"I am happy to say, things have been going very well for us lately," Kleinschmidt said.
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Blind girl wrestler is on a mission
By JOHN MURPHY, Staff Writer 1/19/05
It was Cylliah Chavez's time to wrestle and her friend Elsie Fernandez tapped her on her arm to let her know.
Gently, Fernandez clutched Chavez's arm and led her to the mat.
In the stands Chavez's mother, Gloria Marney, could barely watch, furtively glancing up an down. She was sitting with her husband, Tolley Marney, and teacher Boyd Williams.
"Here we go,' Gloria said.
"Bring it on,' said Williams, a former Cajon High School wrestler.
Except on this day there was no match for Chavez. Carter High School did not have a 152-pound wrestler, so Chavez won by forfeit.
The official grabbed the right arm of the San Bernardino High School wrestler and thrust it in the air. It was another victory for the sophomore, albeit a hollow one.
Chavez's record is now 4-6, with two of those victories coming against boys in a junior varsity tournament. That mark would be respectable if just for the fact that she is a girl participating in a male-dominated sport.
But add this into the equation ... she is blind. Not just bad eyesight, or merely visually impaired, but 100 percent can't-see-her-opponent blind.
IN THE DARK
Last Wednesday, during a break in the Cardinals' practice, Chavez sat against a wall of the San Bernardino gymnasium and spoke of her plight.
"I can sense light and dark,' Chavez said. "I used to be able to see shadows until I was about 6 years old, then that went away.'
The teen has optic nerve hypoplasis, or an underdeveloped optic nerve. There is no history of this condition in the backgrounds of her mother or her paternal father, Jaime Chavez of San Bernardino.
"At times I resent it, but sometimes I'm thankful,' she said. "I hear all of the bad things going on in the world like Iraq, but I don't have to see them.'
It is a unique take, coming from a sophomore in high school. But Chavez is a unique girl.
Blind from birth, she has ascended the rungs of the San Bernardino public-school system in fine fashion. She has attended North Verdemont School, Arrowview Middle School and now San Bernardino, excelling everywhere.
She has a 3.75 grade point average in honors classes, is one of only two girls on the wrestling team and plays the guitar, both acoustic and electric.
"I've tried out for four bands,' Chavez said. "So far it hasn't worked out, but I keep on trying. I'll get into one someday.'
Chavez's unsinkable attitude impressed Cardinals coach Oscar Briseno.
"She's tough as nails,' he said. "The term 'disabled' doesn't even apply to her. She does all I could ask and more. I could use a whole team of wrestlers like her.'
SEIZE THE DAY
The 1985 movie "Vision Quest' is required viewing for prep wrestlers. Set in Spokane, Wash., it stars Matthew Modine as high school wrestler Louden Swain on a quest to be the best wrestler in the state, all the while falling in love with a drifter named Carla, played by Linda Fiorentino.
The film's message is vital that you only have one life to live, and if you keep setting aside your goals, then your time will pass and it will be too late.
Somehow, at age 17, Chavez has figured this out and has applied it to her first year in wrestling.
"It's a new challenge,' she said. "When I first signed up, I was the only female. ... Some of the guys were like 'What's she doing here?' But they're pretty accepting now.'
Brent Aguilera, the Cardinals' 130-pound wrestler, both supports and empathizes with his sightless female teammate.
"It's cool,' Aguilera said. "I think there should be more girls in the sport. But it's tough for a blind person, because she has to sense what's coming by hearing, instead of reacting to a move.'
Chavez is aided by a CIF rule written especially for blind competitors. It says that an opponent must maintain physical contact when the match begins, as opposed to shaking hands and then stepping away.
"That would put the blind person at too much of a disadvantage,' Aguilera said.
SURVIVING
Gloria Marney, Chavez' mother, knows all about disadvantages. She watched her daughter struggle to read Braille, survive the taunts of playground bullies, and learn to get around on her own.
Marney knew it would be tough, but decided early on to mainstream her daughter, as opposed to enrolling her into a special school.
"It's been hard on her at times,' Marney said. "Kids can be cruel and not very sensitive. I just reminded Cylliah that those kids didn't even know her. I told her to try to deal with it as best she could, but to not let anyone treat her like a second-class citizen.'
Chavez said there have been girls at school who have wanted to fight her. So far she has fended them off.
"I just tell them to back off and leave me alone,' she said. "Usually I can reason with them and talk my way out of it. But thank God for the security guys.'
FEARLESS
On the wrestling mat, Chavez takes on all comers. In recent weeks she has shined, defeating those two boys in the junior varsity tourney and then refusing to get pinned in a varsity meet two weeks ago before several hundred at Cajon.
Chavez was a fan favorite at Cajon, although unsure if people were cheering because she is a girl, or because she is blind.
"I wondered about that,' she said. "I don't really know. I just know that it felt good not to get pinned, because our coach tells us to avoid getting pinned no matter what.
"Their guy was trying to pin me. He slammed me a couple of times. I could hear him laughing and it just got me more fired up.'
SEEDS OF SUCCESS
In the stands, Chavez's mother frets. Sometimes she cannot even stand to look, relying on her husband for information.
Marney was incredulous when told by her daughter that she was wrestling.
"I said 'Are you crazy? Why do you want to do this?'' she said. "But it was hard to say no. She's always wanted to get involved in sports and, being a blind person, she can't really play basketball.'
Grappling was not completely foreign to Chavez. Her mother enrolled her in Kung Fu at an early age, so she knew her way around a mat.
The teen's martial arts experience spurred coach Briseno's confidence.
"She's taken a year or two of judo or something,' Briseno said. "I could see that she knew how to grapple. I said to myself 'Hey, this is someone I can work with.''
On the mat and off, the teen-ager's smarts and quick wit keep the quipsters at arm's length.
"She has a really good sense of humor,' Cardinals athletic director Patrick Mills said. "I'll see her at practice and I'll say 'Hey, no blind girls on the mat.' She just laughs it off and says 'Shut up, Mills.''
School is also a challenge, but Chavez perseveres. She is helped by Boyd, her visually impaired teacher.
The V.I. department at San Bernardino fully supports Chavez, transcribing materials into Braille and giving her all of the help she needs to survive the school day.
"Cylliah is very sharp and very organized,' Boyd said. "She's very diligent and adventurous. She likes to try new things.'
MOVING FORWARD
A novice wrestler, Chavez is happy taking small steps right now. Not getting pinned, defeating another girl, vanquishing a junior varsity boy ... those are all signs of progress for the teen.
Beyond high school, the 17-year-old has a plan. She would like to become a forensic psychologist, using her mind to envision what sighted people often cannot.
Boyd sees Chavez's can-do attitude as instructive to all of us.
"It's encouraging,' he said. "It takes away the excuses for those of us who have the means, for those of us who have eyesight and the ability to to get around.
"She's an exceptional young girl.'