C
The program is
being implemented
by schools and
organizations to
provide the exercise
programming IDD
students need to live
happier, healthier
lives.
all it kismet—Joe Jelinski and
Chris Engler do. More than
15 years ago, as high schoolers
from Philadelphia, they were
on a beach in Australia with friends
when a group of young kids walked up
to them and said, “We know you…we
train with you...we will see you guys
around!”
Confused and a little befuddled,
Jelinski and Engler didn’t know what to
make of it. But as the kids walked away,
they noticed all of them were wearing
Special Olympics jackets.
“It was wild,” says Jelinski. “We just
thought they were kids having fun on
the beach, joking around and saying
hello to people. Little did we know,
seven years later, it would turn out to be
the impetus to the development of our Eruption Athletics (EA)
pilot program.”
EA is a company that designs exercise programs specifically
for people with intellectual development disorders (IDD). And,
as with most brilliant ideas, there is a combination of events and
passions that collided to form the EA epicenter.
Jelinski, who has always been an athlete and played
professional soccer after college, knows how to train for peak
performance. “There’s a formula—80 percent training and
preparation, 10 percent practice, 5 percent competition and 5
percent rest,” he says. Engler, who also has an athletic background
in rowing, has a brother named Andrew who has special needs.
This encompassed the other part of the idea.
“When Chris’ brother was training for the Special Olympics,
we wanted to help,” recalls Jelinski. “When we learned there was
no physical training program for these athletes, we were shocked
and concerned. People with IDD are prone to different physical
issues, including obesity, which may be due, in part, to body
composition, lack of physical activity, side effects of medications,
or parents/caregivers who may be overly permissive or overly
restrictive with food and exercise. We knew we needed to do
something to help. That was the beginning of Eruption Athletics.”
Since the pilot program took off in 2009, EA has grown
substantially. It offers multiple programs to the IDD community,
like the “Grow with the Flow” group and “Magma Chamber”
1-on-1 training sessions. The company also reaches participants
through its “Road Show” off-site and “Field Trip” on-site training
programs, in addition to helping the parents of children with
IDD practice what they preach through “EA-dult” training
classes.
EA has patented the Volcano P.A.D.D., a mat with colorful
numbers serving as visual cues, which helps support proper body
placement, spatial awareness, and movement lines. And, the
“EA-xercise for Everyone” inclusive and adaptive program license
model consists of adaptive equipment, adaptive progressive
curriculum, trainer certifications, ongoing support, and data
analysis. The program is being implemented by schools and
organizations to provide the exercise programming IDD students
need to live happier, healthier lives.
“Everyone involved in our participants’ lives outside of our
training, like doctors, teachers, parents, and caregivers, see the
difference,” says Jelinski. “Our clients
have increased endurance, focus,
musculoskeletal functioning, muscular
strength, flexibility, balance, stability,
coordination and increased intellectual
and cognitive skills from attending at
least two classes per week and following
the ‘EA-volutionary Development
System’ on the Volcano P.A.D.D.”
Partnering with The Arc, a national
organization that advocates for and
serves people with IDD and their
families, EA has been able to build
the most current components of the
program.
“Through [The Arc], we can offer EA
to local chapters and schools that can
get funding to keep costs affordable,”
explains Jelinski. “Since we started
licensing to schools, nonprofits and rec centers, we’ve been
able to open programs in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. But
because we cannot be everywhere to teach all the classes, we have
trained others to successfully run the EA program and they’re
having the same results we do.”
He adds, “Now we’re looking for more sponsors to get the
EA program into more of these types of facilities. Here in
Pittsburgh, we are opening new program sites in addition to our
mainstays in Bridgeville and McMurray. Beginning in April, EA
will be in Gibsonia and Mars; Robinson and Zelienople in May;
and Washington, Squirrel Hill, Bethel Park/Castle Shannon,
Canonsburg, Irwin/Greensburg, and Slippery Rock in June. It’s
taking off everywhere and we are so excited.”
Participants wanting to sign up for EA “Grow with the Flow”
programs must be ambulatory or present with a walker or hand
crutches. Staff and volunteers are on hand to assist and motivate
them throughout the classes. “The results we’ve seen over the
years has proven to us our program is working,” says Jelinski.
“Chris and I feel very fortunate to have started our business
together and live out our passion in helping so many people live
their best lives.”
To learn more about Eruption Athletics and how
you can volunteer or participate in the program, visit
eruptionathletics.com. n
Eruption Athletics founders Chris Engler (left) and Joe Jelinski.
SOUTH FAYETTE
❘
SUMMER 2019
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