Becahi football team to honor the blind youth football player from LCYA

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Bob Delker, a middle school football coach at Bethlehem Catholic, has said that with the permission of head coach Joe Henrich and athletic director Mike Grasso that 10-year-old Gage Dannecker will be honored by the Bethlehem Catholic football team before its game against Freedom on Saturday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Dannecker, whose 11th birthday is on Monday, is blind and has been since birth.Handicaps-1002_06 Yet, he plays football for the 110-pound Lehigh County Youth Association youth team. (See Gage, with arms showing on the left, in the Morning Call photo) His story was told in a column by me in Sunday's newspaper. Delker said he is a former LCYA coach. "I put this all together," Delker said. "We're making Gage an honorary captain. He will come out with our guys for the coin toss. We would like him to be introduced over the P.A. system and see if we can't get him a nice ovation. "I talked with his mother [Melissa Hein] and she said he is very excited. It's going to be a wonderful birthday present for him." Delker said he's going to bring Dannecker into the locker room with the varsity kids and "let him have an experience he might never get otherwise." Delker said he was inspired by Dannecker's story and hopes he inspires the kids on the Golden Hawks squad. "When you hear about Gage, you look at your own position in life and you think 'What's there to complain about?' ," Delker said. "I'd love to make a dream come true for him. It's going to be a win-win situation for all involved." Delker said he cut the story out of the newspaper, laminated Gage's picture and posted it in the locker room at Becahi. "I just wanted to show the kids and let them know about Gage," Delker said. "Here's a kid who can't see and all he wants to do is play one football game. It should make our players realize how fortunate they are to be on a football team and have the opportunities they have. How can they complain when they realize what this young man goes goes through. After meeting Gage, hopefully some things will come into perspective for them."