picture of Jim Bennett

Jim Bennett is the Program Coordinator at the W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, a spinal cord injury research laboratory, at Rutgers University. After graduating with a B.S degree in Criminal Justice from DeSales University, Jim worked with troubled kids for over a decade. He presently serves as Chairman of the Bennett Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury Research. Jim has completed several marathons to raise funds to find a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.

 

 

 

 

 

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Dr. Laura Cinque graduated with a B.S. from Regents College and received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life University School of Chiropractic. She owned a two-office practice for over a decade and now practices part-time as an associate chiropractor while establishing her business, ChiroSolutions, LLC, which focuses on patients’ rights to treatment. Personal: Alto in a non-profit concert choir, vegetarian, animal lover, health and fitness advocate…and really enjoys designing parties!

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of Jennifer demby

Jennifer Demby is a Co-Founder and Director of Sports of Blind Athletes Inc., a non-profit NJ Paralympic Sports Club for blind and visually impaired athletes and a 501© (3) public charity. She is a Certified Level 1 Coach with USA Track and Field, Certified in SafeSport, Paralympic Athletics and Swimming. Also currently working as a Part Time Lecturer and Teaching Assistant at Rutgers University for the Movement Experience for Individuals with Disabilities classes and a Fitness Instructional Aide at the Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center for the blind and vision impaired in NJ. She is a ’96 US Olympian and ’95 Pan-Am gold medalist as a goalkeeper for the US National Handball Team. Prior to the Olympics, she was an accomplished basketball player in high school and college setting many records. She graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, of which she attended as a four-year scholarship winner.

 

 

picture of Debby Miller

Debby Miller is employed by Rutgers University, Department of Marine & Coastal Sciences and Student Affairs Recreation Services as the Coordinator/Course Director for Rutgers Scuba & Scientific Diving programs. She has over 25 years of experience in the dive industry as a PADI Course Director, Master Instructor, an HSA Instructor, AAUS Instructor, EFR Instructor Trainer and DAN Instructor. Debby holds Health & Safety, Water Fitness and Instructor certifications with the American Red Cross, American Health & Safety Institute (AHSI), Emergency First Response (EFR), US Water Fitness Association (USWFA), Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI), the Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA), American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), and Divers Alert Network (DAN).

 

 

 

picture of Eva Niemeijer

Eva Niemeijer is currently an undergraduate student at Rutgers University. She is double majoring in Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies. Eva was born in the Netherlands, and moved to New Jersey with her parents when she was two years old. At the age of seven, she joined the Children’s Lightning Wheels Paralympic Sports Club, and has competed in track and field for 12 years. In addition to sports and academics, Eva prides herself on being an advocate for the disabled community. She has spoken at several events at local schools and hospitals to raise awareness for the importance of adaptive sports. She is honored to continue this advocacy at Rutgers, and hopes to see adaptive sports added to the vast menu of athletic programs offered at Rutgers.

 

 

 

picture of Kevin Orcel

Kevin Orcel is a visually impaired athlete born in Haiti. In order to receive the best medical treatment and education, his parents moved to the United States, Kevin was only 10 years old. He attended Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, where he was on the Varsity Wrestling team and the Men’s Goalball team. He then went on to earn his Master’s in Recreation & Sport Management at Florida International University. Kevin is now an Account Executive of Group Events with the New Jersey Devils, the team captain for Blind Athletes Inc. 5-a-side soccer, a Para Track & Field Athlete, and a Member of the New Jersey Thunder Men’s Goalball team.

 

 

 

 

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Sherlock Washington is a 54 year old entrepreneur who is blind due to Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition first detected when he was 7 years old. A sports devotee most of his life, Sherlock is well known for his athleticism in the visually impaired community. He is a co-founder Blind Athletes – New Jersey many years and currently serves as a board member. Having made the U.S. Paralympic Team in 1990, he journeyed to the Netherlands where he won the bronze (3rd place) medal in the high jump. Sherlock also played goal ball from 1986-1995and his team received the gold (1st place) medal in the 1993 national competition. Sherlock is the holder of 2 Beep Baseball World Series championship rings earned as a member of The West Coast Dawgs. In 2001 he made the offensive all-star team. He has played for other states for several years and each he has played on has had top ranking but in 2009, he co-founded New Jersey’s first beep baseball team for blind athletes, the NJ Lightning.

 

 

picture of Trisha Yurochko

Trisha Yurochko has been employed by Children’s Specialized Hospital for almost 40 years. During that time she has held several different positions and for the last 39 years she has been involved with the Children’s Lightning Wheels PSC, the hospital’s sports team for athletes ages 7 – 22 years of age who have a primary diagnosis of a physical disability. For the last 21 years she has been the head coach of the team. Trisha has also helped develop and coach the youth wheelchair sports program, for NY Road Runners. She is a USATF National Level Official with Disability Specialty; on-course official for the Pro-Wheelchair division for the NYC Marathon; IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Level 1 Certified Official; a USATF Level 1 Track & Field Coach; US Paralympics & Adaptive Sports USA national level technical classifier; USA Archery Level 1 Instructor; PADI certified Rescue Diver. She serves as the Treasurer for Tri-State Wheelchair & Ambulatory Athletics and sit on the Board of Directors for Stay-Focused, a scuba-diving program for teens and young adults with physical disabilities. Trisha was one of the 10 finalist in USA Weekend Magazine Most Caring Coaches; she helped develop the initial disabilities curriculum for the USATF officials’ course & test. She has traveled to Australia with athletes representing the US at the Australia National Games serving as Equipment Manager, Track Coach and Team Leader. In her free time, she enjoys playing golf, gardening, reading and sharing her knowledge of sports for the disabled.