When Elijah Kelly gets out on Lake Minneola, he’s always chasing the next adrenaline rush.
Tom Hart, who runs Michigan-based nonprofit Above the Wake, says the 8th grader is the first child the group had worked with who successfully could ride a wakeboard.
Sunday, Elijah stood again, though this time it was with his arms spread on a hot-dog shaped tube, smile spread across his face as the wind pounded his chest.
Above the Wake kicked off its fourth season Sunday, continuing its mission of teaching watersports including tubing, paddle boarding and wakeboarding to children diagnosed with Autism or other cognitive delays.
It attracted children from across the region, from Eustis to Orlando who were looking to try something new or brush up on their skills with their friends.
“Last year, I stood up on my third try,” said Elijah, 14. “It was just so much fun. I was just amazed I actually got up there.”
Hart said he noticed a need for water-based programming for kids on the Autism spectrum and said parents are often surprised at what their children can do.
Sunday marked the ninth such event he’s hosted in Central Florida and has developed a group of local volunteers who offer their top-of-the-line boats and their time for the organization’s needs.
“These kids all need this opportunity,” Hart said. “Sometimes people just think that if you have a disability or diagnosis you can’t do stuff. Our goal is inclusion. They can do it and we’ve seen amazing things with it.”
So while there was a break in the rain Sunday afternoon, several kids piled onto a vessel along with a few parents and volunteers and motored out onto the lake.
As many as five at a time could cram onto the long, skinny hot-dog tube, which was towed behind the boat.
Some were scared of the speed and the bouncing of the tube against the surf, while others, like Elijah, were throwing their hands in the air whooping and hollering as it bounced in the watercraft’s wake.
But even when the water weenie tipped over, the children were eager to pile back on and go again.
“Everybody doesn’t want to learn how to wakeboard,” Hart said. “We’re going to do some things that anybody can do. Anybody can sit on a tube.”
After several rounds of tubing, Hart said they would get out the ZUP board – a kneeboard modified with a handle – and then finished up the with some wakeboarding.
Jerry Kitch and Charlotte Jorgensen were seated on the boat’s bow, watching as their kids switched off riding the long tube.
Living in Florida, Kitch said he brings his son, James, every time Hart is hosting a local event so he can be comfortable around the water.
It turns out, James has grown to like it.
“The first time he came out to one of these events he wouldn’t get out of the boat, he’d only watch. The second time we came out, he was in the first group of kids,” Kitch said. “It’s probably good for us parents too, because we probably tend to be overprotective.”
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