Beckman player hosts camp for special needs students

Beckman basketball player Shubh Khandhadia (left) with Grant Pena.

As youngsters at the Beckman basketball camp for special needs students competed in a game on the final day Friday afternoon, everyone had a chance to make a basket, no matter what challenge they faced.

Encouraged by volunteers, parents and classmates, everyone tried their hardest, some needed help to get up and down the court and not everyone could score a hoop.

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But in reality, it seemed like everyone won.

“The main goal is just to cheer for everyone,” said Shubh Khandhadia, a member of the varsity basketball team who was assisted by his teammates.

“I’ve always had the dream to start a basketball camp for kids who didn’t have the original ability to play and they weren’t given the opportunity to play,” the Irvine resident said. “My family is all from India and I’ve had a dream for so long that I would start a basketball camp in India for kids who were under-privileged. It’s just for kids who don’t have the opportunities that I was blessed with growing up.

“It was a way for me to live out my life-long dream in a reasonable way for my school, something that I could do to help out my community and put some smiles on some kids’ faces.”

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Khandhadia, a senior guard, talked to Beckman’s special education teacher who then contacted the youngsters about the camp.

“They were all super-excited about it,” he said.

“Some have Autism, some have Down syndrome, some are non-verbal Autism as well and not able to communicate as well, so our goal was to get them to open up. That’s why we did a lot of talking and high fives to get them to inter-act and open up.”

The 16 youngsters, mostly from Beckman and a couple from Tustin, were divided into groups for specialized instruction and then at the end of each day, there was a game. Some youngsters were in wheelchairs and were taken up and down the court by volunteers. All received free T-shirts and pizza on the final day.

There were plenty of smiles to go around. Among those enjoying the camp was Grant Pena, a Beckman senior, who according to his father is “mild-moderate with Autism.”

“I love it for several reasons,” said Frank Pena, Grant’s father. “My son loves the activity but this also helps in terms of integrating with the high school kids as well as the special needs (students). So it serves two needs: special needs kids love it,” and he added it is beneficial for the volunteers who have shown, “interaction, empathy and sympathy for these kids.”

The Beckman player was assisted by his parents, Jagruti and Kalpesh Khandhadia and his sister, Saloni Khandhadia and other volunteers.

When the camp closed, one of the students handed Shubh Khandhadia a hand-written thank you note, which he shared:

“Thank you for having the basketball camp for me. I had a lot of fun for three days. Thank you for being my friend. You are great.”