Wanted: Photos of Wheelchair Users at Major League Baseball Games


John Kerr and his wife Krystle Engelhart enjoy watching MLB games at the ball park.
ADAFanCam shot: John Kerr and his wife Krystle Engelhart enjoy watching MLB games at the ball park together.

Images of wheelchair users at Major League Baseball Games aren’t typically included in fan cam shots. So wouldn’t it be awesome if, on the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, all Major League Baseball games — 26 broadcasts in all — showed fans who use wheelchairs and discussed the ADA during the games? “The Strength Coach” Greg Smith, a professional speaker from Ocean Springs, Miss., thinks so and has reached out to his contacts in sports broadcasting to make it happen.

“I have been watching baseball all my life and have never seen one fan cam shot of the wheelchair section,” says Smith, who has spinal muscular atrophy. “Usually when I ask people about it, they can’t remember one either. I called my old sportscasting colleagues, which led to a Facebook chat with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ VP of Broadcasting, Scott Geyer.” Geyer was receptive and is moving the idea around his own circle of contacts.

As a show of support from the disability community to help make this happen, Smith is asking baseball fans to post photos of themselves enjoying major league baseball games to www.Facebook.com/ADAFanCam. “Posting your picture to the site says, ‘I am a fan of major-league baseball who has a disability, and I am right here!’” says Smith, who will keep New Mobility readers update on the progress of this project.


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