Dear Coach Edge

Touched by an Angel For the past four years I have dedicated my summers to Tomorrow’s Stars, a youth basketball camp located in Franklin, Massachusetts. Under the direction of Mr. Jim Edgehill the camp is run not only under the principles of basketball, but according to the principles of raising children with good character. Mr. Edgehill, or coach Edge as everyone calls him grew up on the streets of the city of Cambridge, MA and now teaches K-8 there, running six camps in his spare time throughout the summer months. Coming into my fourth summer of work for him, I assumed I knew all the ins and outs of what the camp was all about. We played games, organized learning stations, worked hard at dribbling lines, told stumper jokes in the morning, etc. But little did I know that the last camp of the year would bring a whole new meaning to what his camp, Tomorrow’s Stars stood for. This past week, I had the pleasure of meeting 9 year-old Ben Allard. Now in most regards Ben was just like every other kid at camp that week; he met the age requirements, loved basketball, and enjoyed the raved about Dean College Cafeteria lunch we had every day. However, Ben faced a special challenge that no other camper we had ever had faced – Down Syndrome. Because of Ben’s disability, he could not play in the regularly scheduled games or competitions with the other kids his age, because the pace and activity level was too much for him to take. Nevertheless, Ben set goals for himself, by the end of his five days, his goal was to make one basket. But even with his disability, nothing stopped Ben from having a total blast with the new friends he was making. He could be continually found in the corner of the gym, with 15 kids around him belting out to his favorite high school musical songs, or you could see him doing his own special dribbling lines with the some of the coaches, laughing and giggling the entire time. Ben simply loved life and his dad, who accompanied him every day to camp, was enjoying the picture as well. By the time Friday rolled around and it was time for the awards ceremony all the kids gathered around in front of the trophy table, with their parents and friends in the bleachers behind them. Each child was anxiously waiting to see if they had been chosen for numerous available awards, and there was Ben in the middle; clapping and cheering for every one of them, probably never expecting for his name to be called. Well it was. Coach Edge had saved a final and special award for his friend, and ours Ben. After a short introduction of Ben, his goals and the inspiration he had been to camp this week, Coach Edge presented him with a “Camp MVP” trophy, an all-star t-shirt and a basketball. As Ben, rose from the crowd, all of the kids and adults in the gym stood and applauded him. As if he just won a gold medal at the Olympics, Ben threw his hands in the air, accepted his awards and came through the line of coaches for high-fives – tears rolling down his cheeks the whole way. In the background his dad, mom and brother could be found, all sharing the same joy as Ben was. His dad was applauding like you’ve never seen before, his mom snapping picture after picture to capture this special event and his brother was jumping up and down in excitement. After Ben finally sat down, he began to cry even harder and was consoled by his dad, who had shared the week long triumph of completing basketball camp, which most kids at Tomorrow’s Stats had once taken for granted. I then looked to my left and my right, only to find most of the coaching staff with tears in their eyes as well. We all had learned something from Ben in those five days and I know I will never forget the impact he had on everyone at camp. He brightened the atmosphere and we all knew he didn’t know it, but Ben had touched all of us that week. The final awards ceremony of the 2008 summer in Franklin, MA will forever be known as one of Tomorrow’s Stars finest moments, with Ben Allard was the shining star.