Former GU pitcher now holds camps for 'limb-different' kids

Published: May 29, 2024

Author: Dave Bell

At 6-feet-five-inches tall, Sam Kuhnert was an imposing figure on the mound when he played baseball for Greenville University a dozen years ago. But there was one thing that set him apart from other Panther hurlers.

He was missing his left hand.

As a three-sport athlete in high school, he was accustomed to doing things differently, often without giving it a second thought. It wasn’t always easy, but his tenacity made it work.

“When I was young, people told me I wouldn’t be able to play sports,” said Kuhnert, who was born with five small digits at the end of his forearm. “Others said that because I’m missing my hand, I’d only be able to play soccer. But I believe I can do anything I put my mind to.”

For that confidence, he cites Philippians 4:13, which says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Though Kuhnert attended Greenville University for only one year before transferring to a school nearer his home, he credits GU Coach Lynn Carlson with giving him an opportunity to play collegiate baseball. In fact, it was here that he first dreamed about organizing camps for limb-different people.

“I had a vision of creating a camp where young people who are missing limbs would work with coaches who look like them,” Kuhnert said. “I’ve always disliked the term ‘disability,’ so in naming my camps I combined the words ‘nub’ (which is what I call my left arm) and ‘ability’ (which is more positive than disability) to come up with NubAbility Athletics.”

He held his first camp in 2012, while he was attending GU, and has held 66 more – involving more than 2,000 young people – since then. Camps are held at locations throughout the nation, and each one focuses on a different sport, including baseball, softball, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, football, skiing, snowboarding, archery, fishing, and marksmanship.

More than 120 coaches, representing 26 sports, have joined him to reinforce the young athletes’ abilities rather than their deficits. At last count, 20 of their athletes have gone on to compete on collegiate teams.

The mission statement of NubAbility Athletics asserts that it exists “to encourage, inspire, and instruct limb-different youth by getting them out of the stands, off the bench, and into mainstream sports.” More information on the organization is available at its website: nubability.org. The leadership team at NubAbility Athletics, which is headquartered in DuQuoin, Illinois, includes Kuhnert as CEO, his mother, Jana, as secretary/treasurer, and his father, Todd, as board chairman.

This past year, Kuhnert teamed up with two Experience First teams at Greenville University, working with students to generate strategies to promote his organization. Because of those connections, he visited campus this spring to observe GU Coach George Barber’s Adapted Sports Olympics, an event that invites area students with disabilities to compete in a day of modified athletic events. And this summer, one of the Experience First team members, Jeremiah Perry, is serving as an intern at NubAbility Athletics camps.

“God has blessed us with amazing coaches and volunteers, and he has opened doors to reach these limb different young people,” Kuhnert said. “It’s taught me that God will bless our efforts if we pursue him and his purposes.

“For me, the biggest victory is to see kids go from hiding their nubs to being comfortable showing them. I want these kids to know that they are created in God’s image and are capable of chasing their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.”