Flag football league gives CMT youngster the chance to play football despite hi

[Guest guest]

Flag football league gives area youngster the chance to play football despite

his rare illness

By Joe Amick

Correspondent@...

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/11/06/news/nh1593846.txt

The yellow flags are slung around his waist and the mud coats his shoes and

sweatpants. And 11-year-old Spencer Slaght also wears a smile on Saturday

mornings.

He gets to play football.

Until this year, Spencer has never been able to play because of

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder that causes muscle weakness

and atrophy, and a loss of feeling in the hands and below the knees.

The nerve cells that carry electrical messages between Spencer's brain and spine

and his muscles and skin are missing key proteins.

Without these, the electrical messages either travel very slowly or at a

much-reduced strength. CMT is generally not life-threatening.

CMT makes tackle football too high-risk for Spencer. The solution for the Slaght

family was to sign Spencer up for the Lake County Youth Flag Football League.

Spencer gets to play football, but his parents don't have to worry about injury

because there is no contact. Doctors have encouraged the Slaghts to have Spencer

play sports to combat muscle atrophy.

" He's been asking for years to play, but tackle (football) is too high-risk, "

said Spencer's father, Whitney. " He loves the game. One of the real big draws

for him is to play on a team and be accepted by the team. "

The Mentor-based United States Flag & Touch Football League runs the youth

league, which is in its second year.

There are 157 players on 18 teams in three age divisions. Spencer's team, Chaos,

is in second place in the 9- to 12-year-old division.

Spencer was 3 years old when he was diagnosed with CMT.

" He's been through a lot. He's overcome quite a bit, " said his mother, Arlene.

" He's doing much, much better physically than doctors thought he would. "

" He's got a fabulous attitude and wants to do his personal best. He doesn't

quit, " said Whitney.

That attitude is evident in other sports Spencer participates in.

This summer, Spencer was on a swim team at the Cleveland Yacht Club. The team

held a fundraiser for leukemia as kids took pledges and a certain amount was

donated for every lap they swam.

" He said, 'I'm gonna swim 100 laps.' In an Olympic-sized swimming pool. He did

50 on Friday and 50 on Saturday, " Arlene said.

" By the end, he was more sinking than swimming. But he didn't quit, " said

Whitney.

Spencer is a touch slower than the other kids on the team and he tires a little

faster, but plays every play of the half-hour games.

" (Spencer) comes out here with a great attitude. He hustles, " said one of

Spencer's coaches, Mike Champa.

Spencer's parents say the highlight for them has simply been watching how much

their son is enjoying himself.

How much does Spencer like playing?

" A lot, " he said after one wet Saturday morning win. " I wanted to play tackle,

but my mom wouldn't let me. " After that statement, Arlene and Whitney just

chuckled with their muddy, happy son.