Accommodating Club Anglers With Special Needs By David Hart
Don Jenkins isn’t exactly sure how members of Berks Bassmasters
looked at him when he showed up for his first club meeting
nearly 20 years ago, but he has no doubt now that they think of
him as just another guy with a passion for bass fishing. Jenkins
was born with spina bifida, a physical liability that prevented
him from living a life like most of us. He’s bound to a
wheelchair, but that never stopped him from reaching for goals
he wanted to accomplish.
“My dad used to take me up to Canada on fishing trips. You
could say the boat was my legs,” said Jenkins, who retired from
AT&T recently after working for the company for 26 years. “While
my brothers and sisters had soccer and other sports, I had
fishing. It was one of the things I could do without any
physical limitations.”
What might stop others from enjoying the same things as
Jenkins, however, is a club’s fear of a club of adding a
physically disabled angler to the roster. Like plunging into a
pool in the dark, there’s no telling what the outcome might
bring. But Jenkins and wheelchair-bound tournament angler Jimmy
Lankford say disabled anglers are no different than anyone else
with a passion for bass fishing.
“I was a little worried that I might be a burden to a club if
I joined one, but once I joined, I realized that I had no reason
for that worry. Besides, why should a wheelchair stop me from
doing the things I love? It hasn’t stopped me from doing other
things,” said Jenkins, who lives in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Break The Ice
Want to bring a special-needs angler into your club? It’s hard
to recruit a wheelchair-bound angler if you don’t bother to ask.
Jenkins says he’s just a regular guy who loves to fish who also
happens to be in a wheelchair. He gladly plays the hand life
dealt him and he makes no demands from others because of his
physical limitations. Lankford agrees, but he does get bothered
when people seem to fear him for the simple fact that he is
different. A wheelchair can either act as an icebreaker or a
wall that prevents like-minded people from making eye contact.
“Parents will pull their children away when they see their
kids looking at me. You want to know about me or my wheelchair,
just ask,” said Lankford, who won the PVA Bass Tour Grand
National Championship on Lake Havasu in 2002. “Just treat me
like you would treat anyone else.”
Like any hardcore bass angler, both men love to talk fishing.
It’s the perfect way to introduce yourself as a representative
of a bass club and to extend an invitation to someone who might
bring an entirely new perspective to fishing at the club level.
Accommodate or Not?
Lankford and Jenkins are different for the simple fact that they
can’t leap up and down stairs like most of us and they have more
difficulty climbing in and out of a bass boat. Both agree this
is not a problem. While it helps to hold a club meeting at
either a home or public facility that is accessible, it’s not
entirely necessary, Jenkins said. Both men move in and out of
buildings that aren’t totally handicapped-accessible and they
even negotiate stairs with a little help from others.
Jenkins’ club has held its meeting in the basement of a local
fire station for as long as he’s been a member, but the physical
barrier of a flight of stairs hasn’t prevented him from missing
a meeting yet. While the club could change locations to make it
easier for Jenkins, he insists that they shouldn’t.
“I have no problem with the meeting place as it is. When I
need it, I get some help from the guys. I can scoot up and down
stairs on my rear end and they carry my chair up and down for
me. It’s no big deal because it’s what I’ve been doing all my
life,” Jenkins said.
Both anglers have to think hard before deciding that there
really is no single barrier that prevents clubs from taking in
special needs anglers. Schedules don’t have to be changed, and
neither do launch sites or waters where tournaments are held. As
long as club members are willing to lend a hand every once in
awhile, a wheelchair-bound angler is anything but a burden.
A Helping Hand
That help is an important part of club membership and
participation for mobility-impaired anglers. Without it, both
anglers agree that taking part in club events and tournaments
wouldn’t be impossible, but it would certainly prove far more
difficult. Both Lankford and Jenkins gladly accept help when
it’s offered. Lankford, however, says it’s best to ask first.
“I’ve had people come up and just start grabbing stuff before
they’ve even asked if I wanted some help. I don’t mind, but
there are times when I’d prefer to do things myself, so I
recommend asking first. People assume you are incapable of
taking care of yourself, but most of us have gotten pretty good
at getting around,” Lankford said.
He can recall numerous occasions where good-intentioned
people banged his wheelchair into the side of his boat as they
tried to lift it in or laid his chair on his fishing equipment.
There isn’t much he can’t do himself and in many cases, he’d
rather take responsibility for those things that could get
damaged or broken.
Jenkins gladly takes help when it’s offered and he’ll even
ask for help when he needs it, but like Lankford, he’s much more
capable than many people realize.
“I can launch my boat without any help, but it takes me 45
minutes. If I see someone who might be able to help me get my
boat in the water a little quicker, I’ll offer them five bucks
to help. I’ve never had anyone say no and I’ve never actually
had to give someone the money. Fishermen, in particular, always
seem to be willing to help,” Jenkins said.
During large PVA tournaments, designated loading crews stand
by to help anglers get themselves and their equipment in and out
of boats, and to help expedite the launching process volunteers
will back trailers into the water and park vehicles. That sort
of assistance is welcomed by most chair-bound anglers, agree
Lankford and Jenkins.
Spend time on the water with either of these men and you’ll
quickly realize they don’t need any help when it comes to
catching bass. In fact, Lankford recalls one angler who has no
arms yet manages to outfish lots of anglers on the PVA Tour.
On The Water
Some handicapped anglers have the ability to utilize their own
wheelchairs in a bass boat and many have even incorporated rigs
that allow them to operate electric motors from the comfort of
their wheelchair. Others, like Jenkins, simply fold their legs
and sit on the front deck of the boat as they operate the
electric motor with their hand between casts. It’s not easy, but
their love of bass fishing is stronger than the hassles they
have to deal with.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to fish. Some handicapped anglers
sit in the passenger seat of the boat because they can’t get up
on the front or back deck very easy, but they’ll fish hard just
the same,” Jenkins said.
Others are capable of climbing into a seat and will actually
strap themselves in, so they don’t have to worry about tipping
out when the boat gets rocked by a wave. Again, a wheelchair is
a minor obstacle to overcome.
Uncomfortable Subjects
Lankford, who lives in Tennessee and competes in Paralyzed
Veterans of America tournaments, says he and fellow handicapped
anglers have no trouble at all facing the realities of their
situation. Other than the fact they are bound to a wheelchair,
they consider themselves just another angler—prone to tournament
trials, tribulations and practical jokes, just like everyone
else.
And as for the latter, most of them can take all that a bass
club can dish out. In fact, Jenkins says a running joke in his
club has to do with his…, er…, bathroom breaks while he’s on the
water. It’s a subject that no one wants to talk about, but one
that is inevitable during a long day on the water.
“I use a zip-lock-type bag when I gotta go. It conforms to
whatever position my legs are in and I can empty it and rinse it
out and then fold it up and put it away. No big deal,” Jenkins
said. “The guys in my club all joke that it’s not a good idea to
accept when I offer them some food that might be in a plastic
bag.”
Lankford agrees that he wants to be treated just like anyone
else, and in most cases, other anglers do indeed see him as just
another member of the tight-knit community of tournament-level
bass anglers.
Some disabled anglers simply can’t fish from a
boat and others just might not want to. That’s why the PVA Bass
Tour includes a bank fishing division separate from the boater
tournament held at the same time. Although most bass clubs don’t
have enough special-needs anglers to include a separate
division, they can certainly allow shore-bound anglers to
participate in club tournaments. Or they can hold special
one-day events geared specifically to bank fishing. It doesn’t
have to be a tournament, per se, but it most certainly can be
something that does include the spirit of competition.
