ALLENDALE, Mich. — Lianna Newbeck's love for wheelchair basketball started after participating in Mary Free Bed's Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp in seventh grade.
"I can't imagine loving it as much if it wasn't for that first experience," Newsbeck, 19, said. "That was my first time ever playing in a sports chair."
Newbeck remembered the genesis of her interest in sports and years later, is back as a volunteer for the camp's 40th anniversary.
"Those experiences with volunteers I met that were in a chair really mattered to me," Newsbeck said. "I could see the older adults still playing sports and living life as a person with a disability, as an older person, which I didn't see a whole lot in my life as a kid."
Newbeck has spina bifida, caused by her spine and spinal cord not forming correctly. But she is not alone at the camp.
12-year-old Fuxi Kladder has been coming to the camp for four years and also has spina bifida. Like Newbeck, his competitive flame is still alive.
"Just have fun," Kladder said. "You're going to know a lot of people [with] the same disability."
Kladder also discovered his love for sports while at the camp.
Same goes for Brandon Binkley. The 11-year-old is making his second appearance at the camp.
"I actually can't feel waist down," Binkley said. "I can't feel little cuts but...deep, it just feels like a mosquito bite to me."
"Most times you work through [issues]. And if you can get them to go away, take some ibuprofen and work on through it.