Sports With A Disability
A lot has changed for disabled athletes, including the sports.
Wheelchair Sports, USA and similar programs address the needs of those athletes often overlooked in school and community recreational programs.
The Beginnings
The incentive to found the National Wheelchair Athletic Association, as it was known in 1956, grew out of the interest of disabled athletes, many of them injured World War II veterans, to participate in a sport other than basketball. Wheelchair basketball had experienced a great surge in popularity in the early 1950s because of teams sponsored by veterans’ hospitals and other rehabilitation agencies. These teams, however, were available only to servicemen with injuries below the waist. The National Wheelchair Athletic Association appealed to a broader audience of athletes with disabilities because it could accommodate women and quadriplegics, two groups that the veterans’ hospital sponsored basketball teams could not reasonably accommodate at the time.
In 1994, the National Wheelchair Athletic Association changed its name to Wheelchair Sports, USA, to better represent its mission and goals.
The Sports
Much has changed since the days of veterans’ hospital basketball teams. Among the first sports, aside from basketball, to be offered to athletes in wheelchairs were javelin, archery, shot put and wheelchair track and field. Today, almost any sport that an athlete can dream of participating in is available.
On its website, Wheelchair Sports, USA, lists some of the sports programs it offers: archery, track and field, road racing, swimming, shooting, weightlifting and table tennis. Disabled Sports USA offers golf, water sports such as kayaking and water-skiing, snow skiing and snowboarding, hiking, cycling, hunting and fishing, even T’ai Chi.
Another popular sport for disabled athletes is quad rugby. The popularity of the sport is due, at least in part, to the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated documentary Murderball.
Extreme Sports
As is the case with any extreme sports, extreme wheelchair sports are not for the faint of heart. Extreme wheelchair sports include downhill mountain biking, off road racing, jumping and jousting. Click here to watch a YouTube video of some extreme fourcross offroad racing.
How To Get Involved
The first step is to know your limits. Know your abilities and what you are capable of and you can find a sports program that is right for you.
Whatever sport you’re interested in, either as a competitive athlete or just for fun and exercise, it is just a click of your mouse. Visit the website of one of the organizations for wheelchair sports, find a chapter local to you and you’re on your way.
Although you may feel healthy and ready to take on anything, be sure to check with your doctor before participating in any sport to make sure you are healthy enough for the activity.
