STROBEL: Saquib is on the run, Variety athlete breaks new ground
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Saquib Haque could not walk until age three. Down syndrome can do that to you.
By four, he had finally progressed to strolls through his family’s south Scarborough neighbourhood with his dad, Zohurul.
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Then God, or fate, or something, reached down and unveiled Saquib’s gift.
“All of sudden, he started running,” says Zohurul, still a little wonderstruck by the memory. “Very fast,” he adds.
Too fast, recalls Zohurul, for even a dad to keep up.
Saquib may have been slow to walk and had trouble climbing stairs — and could scarcely talk, no more than a word or two. But, man, could he run.
Soon he was running everywhere — dashing to greet a chum in his adaptive class at school, sprinting to meet his mom, Shoheli. Darting to and fro at summer camps at the Village. Scampering on basketball and volleyball courts at school.
“Saquib loves to help people, and he’s non-verbal, so if he saw a classmate crying at school, he had to run over to him.” says his dad.
Run, run, run, Saquib.
Which brings us, fast forward, to the fieldhouse at Variety Village.
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Saquib Haque is doing drills with Zeniah Pinnock, 25, a coach with the track team, Variety Village Athletic Club (VVAC). This consists mostly of able-bodied athletes, but graduates include blade-runner Marissa Papaconstantinou, born without a right foot, who won 100-metre bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
Saquib, now 20, is breaking new ground. He’s the first “intellectually challenged” athlete anyone can remember on VVAC.
In fact, the Village is building a Special Olympics team around him. (Special Olympics are to intellectual disability what the Paralympics are to physical disability.)
Staffers noticed Saquib’s need for speed and steered him toward the track team. This is a speciality of the Village — uncovering the particular talent we all possess, including kids with disabilities.
Saquib started training with Pinnock in September. He has yet to run a competitive race and has not even been timed. “It’s too early,” says the coach. “First, we need to build his mechanics.
“But I believe he could be very good,” adds Pinnock, herself a former school track star with national hopes. “Saquib has these moments when bursts of speed appear out of nowhere, and we’re like, whoa, where did that come from?
“Now we have to train him to keep that speed.
“In the last 20 metres of the 100, he can just lock into fourth gear, and it comes out of nowhere. He’s a true sprinter.” She expects he’ll be competing by next summer.
Saquib is virtually non-verbal, so he learns by watching. Starts. Strides. Arm pumps. Finishing kicks. “On the spot, he can look at me and mirror it,” says Pinnock. “Show him a drill and he gets it. That’s a gift.”
Her student’s work ethic is stellar, she says, though his fire can short-circuit his speed.
“Sometimes, he gets so excited when you say, ‘Go!’, he forgets to go.”
Pinnock and other Variety staff are casting about for other potential Special Olympics stars to join Saquib — potential athletes with Down syndrome, autism, genetic conditions and the like, of which the Village has many.
Will Saquib Haque lead a Variety squad to the 2027 Special Olympics World Games in Santiago, Chile?
I would not bet against him. Regardless, Variety Village will remain a place of refuge and inspiration for kids — and kids grown up — like Saquib.
“What’s always stood out for me is the inclusivity,” says his coach. “Here, everyone is growing, everyone is being enriched.
“It’s beautiful to see.”
COUNTDOWN TO $2 MILLION
Variety Village is more than a refuge for kids with disabilities.
“They observe the kids here,” says Saquib’s mom, “they see what they can do, what their skills are.”
In other words, the iconic sports centre in Scarborough helps them be their best. You can help, too.
The Sun Christmas Fund for Variety Village is closing in on $100,000 for the year, despite the mail strike, and $2 million all-time.
Join the following kind souls, our most recent donors, on our honour roll. Help Saquib and hundreds of other kids, keep running. You can donate directly at www.sunchristmasfund.ca
William and Kathleen Kemper, Toronto, $50
Anonymous, $25,000
Ross Quantz, Mississauga, $500
Richard Kovats, Dutton, $200
Marianne Meinel, Toronto, $25
Sandra Montgomery, Pickering, $1,800, in memory of Barb Wade
Wendy Smith, Toronto, $200
Janice Andrews, Markham, $100
Anonymous, $100
Jerry Santoli, Richmond Hill, $100
Steane Consulting Ltd., Toronto, $200
Brad Gray, St. Thomas, $50
Jim Natis, Hamilton, $300
Susanne Voss, Pickering, $100
Norma Morris, Toronto, $150, in memory of Robert Morris
JB Luchak Holdings Inc., Toronto, $250
Dawson Bechtel, Toronto, $20
Allan Moks, Mississauga, $75
TOTAL: $29,220
TOTAL TO DATE: $90,110
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