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PEORIA Bryce Weiler has a vision: Help people with disabilities connect with sports.

Weiler was born without eyesight, but he hasn't let that hamper his love for sports. He has worked as a broadcast color commentator for more than 140 games, one of which was a Peoria Chiefs game at Dozer Park in 2014.

He played catch on the field with then-Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel. He can hit a baseball. Shoot free throws. You name it, he's tried it.

And that's what he wants for everyone with a disability. To that end, the Baltimore Orioles disability consultant co-founded the Beautiful Lives Project after his college days.

Beautiful Lives helps sports organizations create participation chances for people with disabilities.

And one of those events happened Saturday during a basketball game at Galva High School.

The Galva dance team welcomed a handful of students with disabilities, led them through practice on Friday, and then danced with them at halftime on Saturday.

"We had three students, two from Geneseo and one from Kewanee, join us for this," Galva dance team coach Ali Weston said. "The goal for us was to be inclusive. I wanted our dancers to experience this, and work toward helping others achieve something they didn't think they could do.

"None of the three guests who joined us had a background in dance. They wanted to experience it and we were excited to help them."

Weston met Weiler when the two were students at Western Illinois University. She danced for WIU and Weiler became a friend.

"We found out we both had a love for sports," said Weston, 26. "The thing you have to know about Bryce is, any obstacle that comes into his path he embraces and overcomes."

The idea for the Galva dance event was formed over the summer.

"I just thought it was an amazing opportunity," Weston said. "It helps our dancers, too. They learn what it is like for someone who cant do all the things that they can do."

Said Galva junior dance team member Jacqueline Boyce:

"This is a good opportunity for our dance team to reach out to people who haven't had the experiences we've had."

Weiler earned a bachelor's degree in Sports Management and Communication from University of Evansville, and earned a master's in Sports Administration from Western Illinois.

He was born with the retinas in his eyes detached, so he's never had sight. But he certainly has vision.

"The Beautiful Lives Project is my chance to give back to all the people who have helped me out," said Weiler, 28. "Ali has been such a good friend, helped me so much at Western Illinois and is such a good person.

"She's passing along these experiences to her dance team now, and that's a great thing."

You can check out the Beautiful Lives Project at https://www.beautifullives.org/.

Dave Eminian covers the Rivermen and Chiefs for the Journal Star, and writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

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Cleve In The Eve: Beautiful Lives Project teams up with Galva dance team for special event - Peoria Journal Star

This entry was posted on December 21, 2019 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |