ADAPTIVE SPORTS
Through my life I have learned that there really isn't a sport that a person with a disability can’t do. In the article I wrote "Becoming and Staying Active", I briefly mentioned some of the sports I enjoy doing. Of course the specific sports I listed: wheelchair football, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair racing, tennis and Kayaking are just some.
I have enjoyed playing sports for as long as I can remember. My family showed me that a kid can be a kid whether they use a wheelchair or not. For me sports started pretty young with my brothers and sisters. I remember going to the neighborhood swimming pool to race and play games or the local tennis court to play a game of tennis. If we weren't doing that then we were playing sports with the other neighborhood kids like street hockey, baseball, touch football or even kickball, (yes kickball even though I use a wheelchair).
When I got older, I got involved with more organized sports. In middle school I started playing wheelchair football, horseback riding, which was a therapeutic program my parents got me involved in but its still a sport, wheelchair racing and swimming through the same program New York State Games for the Physically Challenged, sledge hockey, wheelchair basketball, softball, volleyball, fishing, golfing, bowling and even going out kayaking on a lake or river with a group of friends. There have been so many sports that I have tried through the years that I'm sure I am forgetting some!
For me not only are sports something I enjoy doing but its good exercise and definitely good stress relief after a long day or a long week. There’s nothing better then hanging out with a group of friends and playing a game of wheelchair basketball or wheelchair football in a local gym.
If you want to learn about additional adaptive sports that I didn't mention or if you are having a difficult time locating adaptive sports in your area a couple of options are the Sports N Spokes website which is: http://pvamag.com/sns/ or http://www.sportsabilities.com/.
