Yea baby… I be famous… Not as famous as our little friend Cole, but hey, we need to start some place, right? That’s right, me, I made the front page of our local paper, the Pottstown Mercury.

Photo by Kevin Hoffman, The Mercury

Judo brings equality for Pottstown man…
Brandie Kessler, Reporter, Pottstown Mercury:

One Pottstown man who often sat out during extracurricular activities as a boy because of his blindness is now leading dozens of local youngsters as they learn the ropes with the Pottstown Judo Club.

“Many people who are legally blind can see fairly well,” said Richard Favinger Jr., the youth instructor with the Pottstown Judo Club. “I’m one of them.”

As a child, Favinger often found himself alienated by other children who knew he was different and were cruel to him, but he was also alienated by the extracurricular programs for children such as baseball or football, or most of the other activities his classmates and peers were participating in. …

Read the rest of this article at the Pottstown Mercury website…

The article as written by local staff reporter Brandie Kessler, who several months ago did an equally inspiring article about a local boy who is both deaf and blind, and attends one of our local elementary schools.

Several months ago I had contacted her expressing my dismay as to the state of programs and sports available to local blind or disabled children. Simply put, there are few athletic programs offered or available to such kids. Many parents don’t even know such programs exist or know there are people, such as myself willing to help…

It’s also a fact I lived threw myself… that many parents, and there disabled children are simply scared, scared of rejection, scared they may get hurt, scared others will make fun of them, scared there children can not succeed because of there disability or because they are different. My aim was to disprove that…

We also wanted to make a point that, even though you have a disability, LET NO ONE TELL YOU, YOU CAN’T DO SOMETHING! You have so little to loose, and so much to gain, just give it a shot! There is ALWAYS a way… And with the right people to guide you, any one can learn, have a little fun, and kick a little ass!

Pottstown Judo will GLADLY accept ALL students who wish to learn the art of judo, including blind and visually disabled, or other disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy. No parent should ever have to hear “We don’t accept disabled children“.

Friends, Cole and Matt both have CP… Cole participates in karate, and Matt participates in judo. You can read there blogs! Cole was also recognized on KarateAngles.com – Kids Hall of Fame (June 2007). (I wonder who nominated him?  )  and good friend Dr. Andre Watson who is blind, and a member of the 2008 USA Paralympic Blind Judo Team… are just some examples of our good friends.

So, won’t you come join us too? We’ll see you on the mat!

Please feel free to link or ping this article and post, and PLEASE pass it along to all your friends. If you want more information, just contact me, I’d be happy to help… And as always leave your comments!