Ed Lamb, first-year head coach of the Bears football team, organized the first “No Limits Camp” in June of 2023, providing a platform for individuals with intellectual 和身体残疾的人一起与博天堂官方的学生运动员进行一天的交流. 尽管 camp being organized quickly in Lamb’s first few months on the job, the impact was 比任何人预测的都要大得多.
As a first-year head coach of a Division l college football team, the “to-do” list 大约和足球场的长度一样宽:
- 雇佣一个教练组
- 确保你的招聘班级安全
- 去了解队里的现役队员
- 在社区中扎根
- 建立文化
- 灌输的期望
- 安装剧本
These are just a handful of the priorities a new head coach has on his plate as soon 因为他扮演了一个新的角色. 考虑到大学体育运动的节奏——快而激烈——它 一切都发生得很快.
That’s what makes the priority list of Ed Lamb, UNC’s new head football coach, that 更有趣的是.
There’s likely no one who better understands Bear football now than Eddie Gonzales, B.S. 19届，20届mba. 2015-21赛季在博天堂官方打后防线后，他是一名防守球员 line coach on the Bears staff in 2022 and then hired by Coach Lamb as chief of staff 也是今年的足球运营总监. 冈萨雷斯已经获得了学士学位 她在博天堂官方获得硕士学位，现在正在攻读博士学位——打破常规 作为第一代学生. 他对熊队的热情和渴望是显而易见的 帮助年轻人取得成功——这是兰姆教练不想放弃的.
Gonzales transitioned into his new role in January, shortly after Coach Lamb was hired. 冈萨雷斯拿着一个蓝金色相间的笔记本，上面写着字母“E” 第一页. “这就是我为兰姆教练做笔记的起点，”他说.
当被问及第一页是什么时，他说:“没有限制. 这是一个非常 兰姆教练跟我说的第一件事.”
“No Limits” refers to the No Limits Camp the UNC football program organized on June 22, 2023. The title of the camp is fitting, because after the camp, everyone involved — players, 参与者和教练——意识到这真的没有限制，不仅是什么 participants of the camp are capable of doing, but also the impact the football program 对北科罗拉多社区有什么影响.
很多人可能都知道兰姆是一名足球教练. 但对他来说，足球从来都不是 他的首要任务.
那就是家庭. 兰姆最小的儿子爱德华(Edward)是四个孩子的父亲 以最好的方式塑造了我们的家庭，”他说.
爱德华今年13岁，患有自闭症. 他被认为是无声的，这意味着他没有能力 说话和有很高的支持需求. 在那些被认为不会说话的人身上 自闭症患者通常很难确定他们的情绪.
Edward has been at the center of Coach Lamb and his family’s lives, something that 自从他们搬到格里利就没变过. 随着爱德华长大，兰姆教练 has realized the challenges that come with raising a child 有特殊需要的人士, and the sad reality that many opportunities that exist for high functioning children aren’t 儿童适用 有特殊需要的人士.
This led him to think about how he could combine some of his greatest passions — family, supporting special needs children and football — into something that would not just 对爱德华产生了积极的影响，也对科罗拉多州北部的许多个人和家庭产生了积极的影响.
That idea became the No Limits Camp, a football camp designed to serve the special 科罗拉多州北部的需要社区. 正如他们的宣传材料中所列的那样，“The 这个营地的使命是把特殊需要的社区和UNC足球 团结一致.”
“这完全符合我的项目目标，”兰姆说. “从一开始 meeting with our players, I told them our goal is to win multiple championships while 以一流的态度待人. 我们想要改变社区的方式 看足球节目.”
Bringing this idea to Gonzales’ attention his first week on the job is not an exaggeration. “这是我的第一个大任务，”冈萨雷斯说.
Gonzales garnered support from inside and outside of the university to put this idea in motion.
He got tremendous help from UNC’s expert faculty and staff in the School of Special Education, Lori Couch, director of development at The Arc of Weld County, and staff from the university’s GOAL (Go On and Learn) program, a federally designated Comprehensive 为有智力和发育障碍的学生提供的过渡计划.
Taking place at Nottingham Field in June, the No Limits Camp was less of a traditional football camp and more of a carnival-style day featuring different stations with various 游戏，以适应每个参与者. 参与者参与了一系列与足球相关的活动 activities from throwing footballs into buckets to making diving catches onto a crash pad and tackling dummies to non-football-related activities including a station to create your own TikTok and a station to bump, set and spike volleyballs with UNC’s 排球队. 其他孩子只是吹泡泡来放松和休息.
Campers were each paired with a football student-athlete and received individualized 冈萨雷斯说，要注意“满足参与者的需求”.
詹妮弗·利伯，1994年，硕士.A. ’98, M.A. ’01, Ed.D. 2002年，本科学术顾问 在特殊教育学院，制作了一个特别的教学视频 足球运动员在训练营之前确保他们做好了充分的准备 the level of time and 经验 each student-athlete had with individuals with disabilities varied.
“我们对待它就像对待我们的剧本一样，”冈萨雷斯说. “在训练之前， 我们要求玩家观看模拟不同玩法的视频. It’s an expectation everyone watches the videos so they know what to do when we get to practice. 这没什么不同.”
兰姆在第一年就强调了拥有强大文化的重要性 the job. 例如，他鼓励玩家一起吃饭并建立联系 每天都有不同的球员. 他和球员们一起在健身房锻炼， demonstrating there’s nothing he would ask his players to do that he wouldn’t do himself. “无极限营”是这个团队变得多么紧密的另一个例子.
“It wasn’t a mandatory event, but we had near full participation from our team,” Lamb said. “看到这么高的参与率对我来说是非常有益的. Equally rewarding was the amount of gratitude players expressed following the camp, sharing 他们有这个机会是多么高兴啊.”
整个活动持续了四个小时，其中不乏亮点. But for 有一种元素比其他元素更突出.
每个参与者都有自己的无限制球衣，就像熊队的足球一样 每个主场比赛前，每个人都要跑过充气熊 来到诺丁汉球场. 不像熊的主场比赛，每个参与者都听到了 当他们跑出去的时候，广播系统上宣布了他们的名字.
“听到我的名字被喊出来，然后跑过充气桶，这让我很兴奋 无极限营地的参与者亨特·舒尔茨(Hunter Shultz)说. “我从来没听说过我的名字 之前在体育场喊过. 这是一次很酷的经历.”
二年级足球运动员艾比·布什(Abby Bush)也出席了会议. 她的弟弟 杰克逊患有唐氏综合症，他参加训练营时“脸上带着挥之不去的微笑” that day.”
“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever 经验d, being at the No Limits Camp,” Bush said. “对有特殊需要的孩子来说，做这样的事情意味着整个世界 不经常发生. 这些足球运动员对杰克逊来说就像名人一样. 知道是我的学校在做这件事真是太棒了. 我妈妈在夏令营哭了，因为 这对杰克逊和其他在场的孩子来说是件大事.”
Many tears of joy were flowing from parents that day, including from Kristin Stevenson, 谁的儿子埃米特参加了夏令营.
“You feel pretty special when you get to hang out with an entire football team and 他们真的想和你在一起，”史蒂文森说. “他们把那种能量释放出来. That’s 对于一群18 - 22岁的年轻人来说，这真是太神奇了. 这些都是建立自信的时刻 所以当你在学校度过了糟糕的一天，你可以反思一下，知道你有一个 整个足球队都支持你.”
当被问及如何总结这一天时，史蒂文森说:“用‘快乐’这个词.’ The joy in the student-athletes, in the kids coming in with big personalities themselves, 欢乐笼罩着这些孩子——他们每个人都走出了自己的壳 尝试新事物. 我认为参加这个夏令营激励了孩子们和学生运动员 也受到他们的启发吗.”
库奇创办了北科罗拉多唐氏综合症协会，并有一个儿子， 患有唐氏综合症的凯莱布在营地的发展中发挥了重要作用. 但是她很快 对兰姆教练给予信任和赞扬，他是这一切背后的灵感来源.
“To think UNC coaches and players took a day out of their training and saw value in 这几乎让我情绪激动，”Couch说. "兰姆教练知道他的 time being with these individuals would bring his team together and grow his program 这对一个有残疾孩子的妈妈来说太难以承受了吗.”
Caleb had such a great time at the camp, bonding with those he met, that he invited 今年秋天和他一起参加洗礼的两名橄榄球运动员. ”他理解 这些球员想和他成为朋友，”库奇说. “他们想参与进来 with him. 这不仅仅是一次演习. 这是一种真实的、真诚的联系.
“A lot of times when you have a kid with a disability you’re not invited to the table, 没有位置. 你几乎习惯了不被邀请或没有邀请 机会，被忽视，不被认为有能力或有价值. 这是相反的 经验. 孩子们被包括在内，参与其中并受到庆祝. 这超出了我所能 我以为会是这样.”
While football camps typically come with a fairly high price tag to participate, the No Limits Camp cost only $5 for families to participate, largely thanks to the generosity of donors, including Vinny Pallone, ’07, a former captain on the Bears football team, 和他的妻子曼迪·帕隆，他们有一个患有自闭症的侄子. 文尼一见面 兰姆教练听说了这个夏令营，他受到了启发，决定捐赠.
“I thought about my nephew running around the same field my brother and I played on — that 非常感人，”帕隆说. “兰姆教练的远见确实令人难以置信.
“He came to Greeley and immediately did something for some of the most forgotten people 在我们的社区里. 他正在建立的基础坚如磐石. 这个人就是真理.”
The truth is Coach Lamb and his staff plan to hold the No Limits Camp again in 2024 在未来的岁月里，渴望把它做得更大更好.
The Bears football team hopes that participants in the camp truly feel part of the program. 象征这种感觉的一种方式是，任何穿着“无极限”的露营者 今年秋天参加主场足球比赛的球衣将获得免费入场.
“包容性是我们团队的年度词汇，”冈萨雷斯说.
Although the Ed Lamb era at UNC officially started on August 31 against Abilene Christian 本赛季的第一场真正的胜利是在6月22日.
