I was thinking the other day, it’s been way too long since we’ve posted a story about one of our Champion Athletes With Diabetes medal winners. Let’s rectify that.
Today, I’ve got two great stories… one about an 11 year old from Belgium, and one about a 15 year old from India. That’s right… Europe and Asia are in the spotlight today.
Zeno is a stellar football player in his home country of Belgium, where he lives with Type 1 diabetes. You know, football that is actually played with your feet, and not your hands (unless you’re the goalie). The rest of us call it soccer. Zeno turned eleven back in November, and this past summer, he competed and won as part of a team that captured the European Champions League under 11 championship. Later, his indoor team won the Limburg trophy as the top under 11 indoor team in Belgium.
His father Ronny says that Zeno’s training is pretty intense. He’s training four days a week, and between the training and the matches it can be a challenge to keep his glucose in a stable range. Which he does very well:
“During the game in the weekend, we have noticed we need to put more attention on the moment of the game (in the morning or in the afternoon) and the place of the game ( Home or away). Also the food is important before and during the game.
We, his parents and his brother of 13 years, are full of respect for his individual efforts to maintain his sugarlevel.”
Zeno’s brother Milan has been instrumental in helping with everything too. As a result, I sent him a medal as well. Because support is super important.
This truly has been a team effort. Congratulations Zeno and Milan!
—————————————————————————————
Fifteen year old Jahan is a pretty awesome badminton player. In Mumbai, where Jahan lives, badminton is a pretty big sport. He also lives with Type 1, and just like Zeno, he doesn’t let that slow him down. In fact, even though he’s just 15, he’s competing in under 19 age group events. He was recently part of a doubles team that finished second in the Mumbai Suburban District Championship. And he’s now on the Mumbai district under 19 team, where he will compete at the zonal level very soon.
As you can see from the photo, he’s pretty fit for a fifteen year old. His father tells me he was excited to receive the medal. We’re excited to see Jahan succeed.
How about you? Have you been knocking off your athletic goals while living with diabetes? If you are conquering diabetes at the same time you’re conquering your competition, I have a medal just like the one above for you too. Here’s what you do to get one:
1. The athlete receiving the award must be living with diabetes.
2. The athletic event must have taken place in the last six months. For now, we’re going with a pretty loose interpretation of the word “event”. If you feel you’ve accomplished something important to you, that’s an event. ‘Nuf said.
3. Send me an e-mail at champswithdiabetes@gmail.com. Tell me your name, name of the athlete (it’s okay if it’s you), and your address (gotta know where to send the medal). Most important, tell me what athletic goal was accomplished, and when. Extra points if you tell me how you felt accomplishing the goal. Full disclosure: I reserve the right to use your testimonial here, on Twitter, and on Facebook. I will not use your name if you don’t want me to. As always, I will never share private information.
4. When you receive your medal, it would be great if you post a photo of it around the athlete’s neck. You can send a Tweet to @ChampsWithD (hashtag: #champdathletes) or post it on the Champion Athletes With Diabetes Facebook Page.
I salute you, Champion D-Athletes. It takes a boatload of courage to compete, or maintain an exercise routine. Heck, sometimes, it’s everything we can do just to get out of bed. Getting out of your comfort zone and taking that brave step is something that should be recognized and rewarded.
If it’s a big deal to you, it’s a big deal to me too. I want to support you, or support the Athlete With Diabetes in your life. Don’t wait… send me an e-mail for your award. C’mon… there are plenty more where these came from.
Diabetes Blog - Happy-Medium.net 