JUNE 14, 2024 POETRY Finding Clarence LA SHAWN COURTWRIGHT Groundcover vendor No. 56 Lion's roar EARL PULLEN Groundcover contributor They said that they cared for Clarence but they don’t Haven’t seen my baby Since he was three days old Been trying to locate him for seven years now The date he was born 11-21-1998 He’s almost 26 years old They want me to pay to find my baby They gave away Social services are a messed up thing All they brought to my life was other disasters and continuous pain I just pray to God almighty to see My baby Clarence again As a lion roars He’s a majestic beast Does he get his roar From the west or the east? Some people wonder about this thing Called a beast He’s got his pride Or so it seems He has no plot And he has no scheme Just a magical dream Or so it seems. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 SOCCER from page 7 International Football Association to environmental activist Isabel (Izzy) Sutton, a Pioneer junior in 2024-2025, were also honored before the women's home opener as Sports and Community Role Models. Sutton, who convinced AFC-AA to switch from single-use plastic, is nationally recognized for helping Ann Arbor nonprofits, including those for wildlife, education and the homeless, according to the Ann Arbor Public School District News and MLive. Eitzman, a 2024 U-M graduate in Neuroscience, wants the amputee soccer program to become an official club in the U-M ASF Program. ASF has four official club programs, adaptive track and field, wheelchair basketball, tennis and rugby. ASF also began the Adaptive Sports and Inclusive Recreation Initiative in 2021 which today has adaptive sports in all middle school grades in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, according to the ASIRI web site. Eastern Michigan University also has an adaptive sports club. The Ann Arbor YMCA integrates everyone into the same classes. Along with the Y, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Parks and Recreation offers swimming and other sports to athletes with disabilities. LaQuinta Haynes, a U-M Amputee Soccer player, and Eitzman were roommates when the United States Amputee Football Federation (USAFF) was invited by the Federation promote amputee soccer at the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Eitzman is USAFF Director of Collegiate Development, Technical Director and on the Board of Directors. Haynes, a right defensive back for the United States National Amputee Women's Soccer team, will compete in the inaugural World Amputee Football Federation Women's Amputee Soccer World Cup, Nov. 2-11, 2024 in Barranquilla, Columbia. The U.S. National Amputee Women's Team is in its second year. "I didn't play sports," said Haynes, who lost her right leg from cancer. "It's about mastery. I kept doing everything. Now what can I master?" "If you really want to do something in this sport, U-M opens the door for you," William Mullen said, "but you have to want to do it." Mullen and Haynes, who played in the halftime exhibition, travel from Columbus, Ohio to work out with the ASF program. Both U-M Amputee Soccer and the ASF Program are open to everyone in the community including non-students and non-limb deficient athletes. U-M Amputee Soccer began five weeks of practice every Tuesday June 4-July 2 at Hubbard or Mitchell fields. Contact emily@amputeesoccer.com for more information. "We want to be inclusive," Eitzman and her friend Danae Moriarty agreed. "We don't want to close it off to anyone." Moriarty, born without her left arm, and Eitzman grew up together playing at the Saline Soccer Association for Coach Mackenzie Gilmore, who today is the President of the USAFF. The USAFF, founded in January 2023 according to its website, encompasses all ages and genders. It believes "through soccer all can be elevated, empowered and respected." "We're very forward thinking," said Nick Lacy, in charge of AFC-AA’s sponsorship and community outreach. "We love Ann Arbor and appreciate [its] support. We like to be a place where families can come out and have a great time watching some sports. We like to be a place where everyone can come together regardless of who they are. That's one of the things about ‘the beautiful game.’ It brings people together from all walks of life."
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