Blind high school runner, and her team, are a sight to behold
BILL PLASCHKE
Simi Valley Royal High senior Alyssa Rossi, blind since birth, is able to compete thanks to the help and sacrifices of teammates.
At the end of another tough week for teamwork, with major leaguers lying and NBA stars feuding, they ran alone.
In Simi Valley, across a grassy field in the lengthening shadow of nearby hills, they ran together.
Two girls, side by side, stride for stride, connected by the stretched cotton of a gray belt and the giant arms of innocence.
One girl is blind.
The other girl is teaching the rest of us to see.
One girl, Alyssa Rossi, born without vision, is the newest senior runner on the Royal High track team.
The other girl, Nicole Todd, is the sophomore teammate making this possible.
Rossi runs a mile, Todd runs with her, gently guiding her with the gray belt that is connected to a thicker black belt around Rossi's waist.
When Rossi slows, Todd forsakes her own training schedule and slows.
When Rossi speeds up, Todd runs even faster to watch for bumps and curves.
When Rossi grows breathless and has to stop, Todd stops too, even if the sophomore could use more work.
"At first I wondered if this was the best thing for me," Todd said. "Then I realized, this is not about me."
She smiled, and you want to wrap the sports world in this smile, one born of the basic instincts of teamwork, one that glitters with the very best of sport.
Since Royal High began training several weeks ago, many teammates have shouldered that assignment, and shared that smile.
One girl will guide Rossi from the locker room to the track. Another will run with her around the huge sports complex. Another will run with her on the street. Another will accompany her in sprints.
For the last several days, her fulltime partner has been Todd, but before that, seemingly everybody helped.
"Let's see, I don't know last names yet, I don't know all their voices yet, but I do remember those who have been here for me," Rossi said. "There's Nicole, Leah, Lorely, Shayne, Cory, Carly . . ."
The list goes on and on, Rossi giggling with each name, unearthed treasures on this most unexpected of journeys.
"It's really an awesome thing, because it must be really hard for them," Rossi said. "In fact, I bet it's just as hard for them as is it for me."
She shook her head.
"I've always been blind, but I know they've never had to do something like this."
Yet from the beginning, they have done it voluntarily, raising their hands and grabbing the belt and connecting her to themselves and their world.
