Earning 'Triumph' over adversity

Organization devoted to those with spinal cord injury host over-the-line clinic at Buellton's River View Park

By Mike Chaldu

On a recent, sunny Saturday afternoon, a basketball court at Buellton's River View Park was in use — not by players running back and forth and shooting hoops, but by a group in wheelchairs playing the baseball offshoot called over-the-line (OTL).

However, this was no random, impromptu meeting — this was a clinic conducted by the Triumph Foundation, which has been conducting events like this in Buellton from time to time.

"Our organizaiton had meetups on the Central Coast where people can get together. We alternate between Buellton and Orcutt, and talk, play games, have some pizza," said Andrew Skinner, founder and director of the foundation. "The sports part of programs is a matter of getting people out of the house and having fun. I like doing all sorts of inclusive activities because people with disabilities are left on the sidelines, whether intentional or not, for outdoor activity; we don't belong. With this, we're trying to knock down those barriers, and welcome anyone who shows up."

Skinner, who's a Valencia resident, but makes it up to the Central Coast quite a bit, found the Triumph Foundation about five years after he suffered a spinal cord injury.

"After my injury, I was lost; fortunately, I had a family, and I had new people with similar disabilities come into my life," he said. "I just wanted to pay that forward after that and formed the Triumph Foundation."

The service Skinner's group gives the disabled goes beyond just sports.

"We have programs focused, on aiding people after suffering catastrophic injuries, visiting them in hospitals, steering them to resources," he said. "But an important part of our mission is to get people outside and active."

Skinner said Triumph does "three or four" programs in North Santa Barbara County, most notably OTL, hand cycling, and wheelchair rugby.

"We have other sports, but those three are the crowd pleasers," he said. "Baseball [OTL] is nice, because you can play in your own mobility device; there's no need for speical equipment."

With Skinner living in Valencia, he credits his fellow foundation member David Magallanes with growing the group of participants here on the Central Coast.

"When I lived in Camarillo, I was coming up to Cottage Hospital for group meetings with other in my condition," said Magallanes, who said he was wheelchair-bound because of a staph infection. "I got to know some people in those groups who came down from Lompoc, and it was becoming more difficult from them to get there, so I started trying to get people in a group up there so they didn't have to go as far."

Magallanes, who now lives in Lompoc, said he was able to get a group of 20-25 people when he first got it together, and now "it's at more than 100. We meet monthly up at Giovanni's Pizza in Orcutt."

At River View Park, there was a good cross-section of people, both disabled and able-bodied, who took part. Sitting in the wheelchair was the "great equalizer" for the non-disabled, Skinner said.

Among the group was Ron Balden, 22, who was trying OTL for the first time since he seriously injured his spinal cord about 18 months ago, according to his mother, Tonja, who was there with Ron's dad, Jon Balden.

"We met Andrew not too long ago, when Ron was in rehab, and we were able to get involved," Tonja said. "This is actually the first time he's come out to do something physical. He's been in the support groups, but this is his first time coming out and playing."

Tonja said her son seemed to being enjoying himself.

"Yes, this has been great for him," she said. "He's doing the OTL now, but I see that they have wheelchair rugby, and I think we'd like to work toward getting him into that."

It's the instances of those with spinal cord injuries, like Ron, coming out to play a little, and it's a visible part of his group.

"The hospital visits and stuff like that, I can't take the public with me," he said. "But things like this where we're out playing, they can see that and see what we're doing for people."

As the organization's website says, "Triumph Foundation's mission is to help children, adults, and Veterans with Spinal Cord Injury/Disorder (SCI) to triumph over obstacles they face and to inspire them to keep moving forward with their lives by pushing themselves to get better every day.

"Triumph Foundation provides resources, hope and security to people living with paralysis — not just initially when the injury occurs, but as a lifelong support network. We are the go-to organization for people living with mobility impairments in Southern California."

For more information on the Triumph Foundation, go to triumph-foundation.org.