Frat hosts wheelchair basketball tournament

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Tony Rennpage’s palms are black and scarred with blisters from being “confined” to a wheelchair, but to Rennpage, his wheelchair is anything but confining.

Rennpage, a parks and recreation junior, has played wheelchair basketball for about 10 years and spent the past two years at MSU leading the Wheelchair Sports Club. Rennpage watched as a referee Wednesday while students from across campus played the sport he loves.

Sam Neff, a media and communication technology senior, was one of 27 students who became temporarily “disabled” while taking part in Pi Kappa Phi fraternity’s 3-on-3 full court wheelchair basketball tournament at IM Sports-Circle, an event he organized to raise awareness for the chapter’s philanthropy organization, Push America.

Rennpage said it’s a good opportunity to teach others.

“This is not done enough,” Rennpage said.

“Sometimes my friends tell me that people are staring, but it’s not about society and what they think of people with disabilities. It’s about how you handle your situation as an individual. It’s a great opportunity to teach people.”

Push America was founded in 1977 by the national chapter of Pi Kappa Phi and focuses on ideas of empathy, abilities, teamwork and integrity, said Adam Phillips, director of marketing and public relations for Push America.

“There’s not distinct awareness for people with disabilities like there are for other causes,” Phillips said. “Understanding is just as important as fundraising.”

Many Push America events, such as this one, are centered around raising awareness about the difficulties people with disabilities face every day, Neff said. Those disabilities cover a wide range of physical and developmental issues, from Down syndrome to those who are paraplegic.

“We’re hosting the tournament because it’s a good way to bring the cause to the individuals coming to the tournament, rather than just raising money,” Neff said. “They get to play a sport that they take for granted using their legs in and play the game from the perspective of someone with a disability.”

Wheelchairs for the basketball tournament were donated by the Lansing nonprofit organization Athletes with Disabilities Network, Neff said.

Neff’s interest in wheelchair basketball was sparked by a class with Jerry Sarosin, an assistant instructor in kinesiology, who teaches 14 students the basics of playing basketball with a disability every Wednesday on campus.

“People with disabilities are still people,” Neff said. “They don’t want to be catered to, they don’t want people to pity them. They want to be treated like everyone else, they just want you to understand what they’re going through.”

Neff said the chapter hopes to see the tournament grow in the next few years and said fraternity members hope the event serves to generate some future interest.

“I got involved, and it’s changed my life,” he said. “I’ll try to stay involved as long as I possibly can.”

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