PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- The signing of a 7-year-old girl to an Ursuline College sports team may seem like a stunt, but it’s really not.
Yes, the girl was signed as an official member of the college’s STUNT team, but that’s where the stunt ends, as her signing is sure to do her -- not to mention her teammates -- a lot of good.
On Wednesday (Nov. 29), Ursuline College Athletic Director Cindy McKnight signed the girl, Natalie (her parents, Chris and Pam, do not wish to have her last name publicized), to the STUNT team.
STUNT is one of the fastest-growing female sports in the country. It incorporates skills derived from cheerleading and gymnastics and is an exciting head-to-head game between two teams who execute skills-based routines in various categories -- partner stunts, jumps and tumbling, pyramids and tosses, and team routines.
It is now classified as an NCAA emerging sport.
For Natalie, participating in team practices and attending games, both home and away (depending on her parents’ schedule), will be quite a welcome experience.
At age 4, Natalie was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare childhood disease that causes muscle weakness and skin rash with inflammation of the blood vessels, muscles and skin.
It affects about 3,000 to 5,000 children in the United States. Most cases occur between the ages of 5 and 10, and girls are more likely than boys to get the disease.
While its exact cause is not yet known, according to the Arthritis Foundation, JDM has much in common with autoimmune disorders, in which a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks body tissues.
The matchup of Natalie with Ursuline’s STUNT team was brought about by TEAM Impact, which matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, creating a long-term, life-changing experience for all involved.
Already a gymnastics student, Natalie has thus far taken part in one practice with the Ursuline STUNT team.
When asked how she enjoyed the experience, she replied, “I liked going up in the air.”
Like most people, Natalie’s parents had never before heard of the sport STUNT -- nor of JDM.
When Natalie was 3, Chris recalled: “We were on the porch one afternoon watching the kids (they are parents of three) play. Kids fall, we all now that. But the kids were running down a path and it looked like Natalie tripped on a string and there was nothing there.
“She had fallen before, but this was different. We (he and Pam) looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to figure out what’s going on.’ We could tell it wasn’t just a kid falling.”
After her diagnosis, Natalie began treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. There, Pam said, Natalie put up a struggle whenever a nurse attempted to put an IV in her arm.
“She would hold her breath and that would make it harder because the veins would close up, so they had to put an IV into two arms,” Pam said.
Pam credits a pediatric art therapist who, in order to incentivize Natalie not to struggle, offered her play money for each time she would cooperate. After enough play money was saved up, Natalie could select a gift for herself from Amazon.
The therapist also had another idea.
“She knew Natalie liked gymnastics and said, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, but she might be interested in this program.’”
A call was placed to TEAM Impact and, soon after, Ursuline’s became the first STUNT team ever to include a TEAM Impact player.
“I get emotional about this. The doctors and nurses and everyone were so kind and patient,” Chris said. “I can’t say enough good things about the Cleveland Clinic.”
According to the Cedars Sinai website: “Many children will recover from JDM without any lasting problems. Some children may have trouble moving because of shortening of the joints (contractures). Other children may have ongoing (chronic) symptoms. These may include pain, muscle weakness and delayed growth. There may be damage to bones, joints, lungs and other internal organs.”
As an official STUNT team member, Natalie will get a uniform and team gear. While she will not be competing or doing drills that could cause injury, she will be on the sidelines with her teammates and join them in some team bonding activities throughout the year.
Coached by longtime gymnastics and cheerleading coach Tracy Zarzour, the Ursuline Arrows STUNT team will open its second season with a scrimmage Feb. 1 at Tiffin University, and Natalie is welcome to be there with her teammates.
“We’re growing; we’re building a program,” Zarzour said of the team’s current path.
Ursuline Junior Elise Kensick is a walk-on team member.
“We didn’t actually have a TEAM Impact program set up (at Ursuline),” Kensick said. “They contacted us and said: ‘Hey, there’s this little girl who loves gymnastics. Here’s all the information about TEAM Impact. Are you guys interested?’
“We said yes, and they brought her to us.”
Kensick said the rest of the team is happy to have a little sister on board.
“If we knew it (TEAM Impact) was something we could do, we would have already been searching for someone. We’re really a big fan of community outreach,” she said.
Having Natalie as a team member definitely seems like a win-win situation -- but in no way a stunt.
Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.