Adapted Bowling Tournament Sponsors New Autism Division
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There's something new in the State Adapted Bowling tournament's 17th year in Brooklyn Park, and many parents are quite happy about it.
"He just gets a chance to be a part of something," Matt Lombardi said. "I think that's really important to Joe."
Lombardi is the head football coach at Maple Grove, but today he's a big St. Michael-Albertville fan. That's because his son Joey, an 8th grader, is on the adapted bowling team competing in the state tournament.
"They just love being a part," Lombardi said. "They're part of the bowling team. I think being a part of a team is a neat thing for them."
"It's just fun, and it's a great experience to be a part of," Joey said.
Joey has autism, and this year, there's a new division created specially for kids just like him.
"It's great being around kids just like me," Joey said.
For the first time, the Minnesota State High School League is sponsoring an autism spectrum division at the state tournament, in addition to the original Cognitive Impairment and Physical Impairment divisions. Minnesota is the first and only state in the nation with an autism state tournament.
"Autism spectrum is one of the fastest growing areas in special education in our schools, and our member schools asked the high school league to see if we could expand more opportunities for kids," Minnesota State High School League Assistant Director Rich Matter said.
That's exactly what it does -- allowing more kids to participate. This year, a new record 432 kids participated in adapted bowling in Minnesota, and about 40 of them are in the new autism division.
Joey was in the Cognitive Impairment division last year, but moved into the new autism spectrum division this year.
"Some of his obstacles are cognitive and physical, so this is good for him," Lombardi said. "And just little things of aiming at a target and doing things, there's things that you take for granted. But he's constantly working on it. He's got a great spirit and a great heart, and he enjoys doing it, and so it's a great experience in many ways for him.