Inclusion - Sports Game On! Endless Possibilities Champions 18 Adaptive Sports in South Florida Denise De Mello spends much of her time on the boccia court at the Club Managers Association of America Therapeutic Recreation Complex, a Paralympic sports facility equip with a swimming pool, athletic center and adaptive equipment rentals in Lake Worth, Florida. Not familiar with boccia? “It’s similar to the Italian game of bocce. It’s an interesting game with hand-eye coordination,” says Denise. Played indoors, boccia athletes throw, kick or use an assistive device to propel leather balls as close as possible to a white target ball (the jack). “I hadn’t played wheelchair sports before, so I thought this sport was a good introduction,” she explains. Denise was initially misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy before doctors discovered that her disability actually stemmed from a benign tumor on her spinal cord; but the now 57-year-old hasn’t let her disability slow her down. Denise learned about adaptive recreation about seven years ago at a gathering of people with physical disabilities. “I got involved in the group because I wanted to be more active,” she explains. That objective was shared and, so, the informal assembly formerly obtained 501(c) (3) nonprofit status as Endless Possibilities, an organization that provides adaptive sports and recreation. Endless Possibilities started with wheelchair rugby play. “The game was first developed in Canada as a team sport for quadriplegic athletes, and was originally known as ‘murderball.’ It was a very intense game of players in metal wheelchair going full speed on a court crashing into each other,” Denise describes. While a level of competitive enthusiasm remains, though with a new focus on positive teamwork, the sport �� known in the U.S. as quad rugby or wheelchair rugby �� challenges players to bounce or pass a ball every 10 seconds to, ultimate, carry it across the opponent’s goal line to score. Endless Possibilities now offers eight programs: boccia, as described above; goalball, a court game played by visually impaired athletes using an audible ball; handcycling, using an upper-body powered bicycle; power soccer, an indoor version for power wheelchair users; sitting volleyball, adaptive with a lower net and players seated on the court floor; sled hockey, a sit-down version of the sport with two sticks dually used for mobility and play; wheelchair basketball, similar to traditional play for wheelchair users; and wheelchair (or quad) rugby, as previously defined. “Our vision is to expand to include more Paralympic sports,” Denise declares. Endless Possibilities’ programs are offered year-round t y p i c a l l y wi t h one to two opportunities per week and are coed. Currently, about 100 members �� ranging from teenagers to seniors �� participate in both recreational and By Nancy DeVault AmeriDisability July/August 2017 Sled Hockey Power Soccer Sitting Volleyball Boccia
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