Fort Erie athlete headed to Special Olympics provincials this summer

Fatigue is something Ryan Rumsey experiences on a daily basis, much of it to do with mental illness and the lung and neuromuscular diseases he lives with.

But that doesn’t stop him from playing sports year round.

He plays soccer and softball in the spring and summer, as well as floor hockey and competitive swimming as part of his enrollment in Special Olympics programs.

And in July he and his softball team, the Welland Champions, will head to the provincial finals in Brantford after winning a qualifying tournament in Niagara last season.

“We’ll get to play teams we haven’t seen before,” Rumsey said in an interview with Fort Erie Radio this week.

The 47-year-old also has autism, and due to his conditions, he tires easily.

But playing competitive sports is what keeps him on top in the game of life.

“I find that doing sports makes me strong,” he said.

“I’d rather be tired from sports than tired from depression,” he added.

Rumsey plays outfield and catcher on the team, and has grown in many ways through his role as the oldest player on the roster.

“It’s a way for me to build friendships and be a leader at the same time,” he said, also admitting he’s the “new guy” because the team has a long history and he joined only three years ago.

Aside from competing in the field and batter’s box, Rumsey said he has won lately when it comes to patience and understanding of what others on his team need and are going through.

“I’ve had to do a lot of work on myself to learn about my teammates and being a team player,” he said, adding he owes a lot of gratitude to his coach Tim Dixon.

Rumsey also boxes south of the border at the Buffalo Boxing Club.

He spends a lot of his spare time working on his eBay store where he sells vintage sports apparel.

Public speaking about autism and mental illness is another one of his passions, along with genealogy, digging into family trees.

Baseball is a game he has loved since childhood in Alberta, which is where his love for the Philadelphia Phillies started, his favourite Major League Baseball National League team.

Throughout his interview with Fort Erie Radio, Rumsey was wearing a Baltimore Orioles hat, explaining that they are his favourite American League team.

In 2022, the Phillies lost in the World Series to the Houston Astros, and Rumsey was close by taking in the action with fellow “Phillie Phanatics.”

Although he couldn’t afford the outrageous ticket prices attached to playoff baseball, he stayed in the city for a week with a friend and visited local taverns on game days.

“Even though they lost, it was the greatest week of my life,” said Rumsey.

His Special Olympics soccer team is Niagara United based out of Niagara Falls, and his floor hockey team, which he says has won every game they’ve played, are the Welland Tigers in the Rose City.

His competitive swimming takes place in Port Colborne.

“I try to stay busy,” he said.

Rumsey moved to Fort Erie from Alberta in 2015.

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