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. EA will be in Gibsonia and Mars;
Robinson and Zelienople; 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.
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SUMMER 2019
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