Table Tennis
Photo: Index Open
Teens use sports to help special needs kids
Teenagers from Lower Galilee brighten up the world of children with special needs by teaching them how to play table tennis
While their friends are out lazing around in the beach or in shopping malls Noa, Erez, Inbar, Rotem and Sagi from the Lower Galilee
spend their Fridays doing something completely different – teaching kids with special needs how to play table tennis.
The past few years have seen Israel's Lower Galilee region turn into a table tennis superpower. Some 300 Israeli teens have turned to the sports in their spare time including three state champions.
But some members of the Lower Galilee team have decided to use the sports as more than a pastime and are harnessing their skills to help their community.
In the past year, some 20 teens have started helping children with special needs from the area.
"Despite the stress at school I am happy to contribute, I feel I am getting more than I am giving," said Noa Shmueli, 16, from Moshav Ilaniya.
"I'm training an 8-year-old girl and working with her on technique, concentration and how to hold a bat. She is constantly improving and that makes me very happy. "
Noa said that the girl she is training is the same age as her little sister and that seeing the differences between the two motivated her to help her protégé. "Any progress she makes moves me," she added.
Parents of the special needs kids have also noticed an improvement. "Despite the fact that my son's disability prevents him from speaking I can feel him waiting for his Friday sessions," the mother of a 13-year-old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy said. "He started smiling and cooperating. The kids who dedicate their time to our kids are angels."
Motti Dotan, head of the Lower Galilee Regional Council said: "I'm proud of these teenagers who win Israel championships and at the same time give away their own time to these kids with special needs."
