The WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative has formed!

For decades, many athletes with disabilities have been playing sports whenever and wherever they can find a way to do so.  Youth and adults have spent countless hours practicing sports that help develop well-known benefits such as confidence, leadership skills, team-building, self-determination and more.  For many, though, the goals of traveling for competition with other teams, maintaining equipment that fits them well, and finding community support that supports their team budgets are often unattainable.

In Western New York, we have had a rich history of adaptive sports.  (Perhaps that will be another post some time!)  But each team, each program, faces many of the same challenges as they struggle to continue to provide these much-needed and greatly desired opportunities, and so we have been working on a model that can address these needs in a more effective manner.

Today, we are formalizing our years of commitment to youth and adults with disabilities who want equitable sports opportunities by announcing the Western NY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative.

What is the WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative?

The WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative is a formal alignment of Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports (GBAS) and Rochester Accessible Adventures (RAA) towards the common goal of developing a regional system of access to adaptive and inclusive sports across Western New York. Our goal will be to bridge gaps and create a community culture where youth and adults with disabilities have choice in sports across their lifespan.

The WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative’s efforts will include:

• Establishing adaptive and inclusive sports opportunities across Western NY for individuals with physical disabilities and I/DD within contexts which enable growth and sustainability
• Creating sustainable pathways for youth and first time participants to access the rules of the games, which then serve as feeder systems for teams and facilitate personal growth as emerging leaders in their communities
• Ensuring both recreational and competitive levels of engagement are available for youth and adult athletes

Planning

By uniting in The WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative, both RAA and GBAS are formalizing the work we have done over the span of many years, and committing to addressing barriers to sports across the WNY region which have kept people with disabilities from having equitable access to a variety of sports opportunities.  We will build upon successes with Sled Hockey, Wheelchair Basketball, and Wheelchair Lacrosse programs in Buffalo and Rochester to create an array of sports options that people with and without disabilities can play and compete in together across their lifetime.  We will collaborate with other locations throughout the region to work with already established teams and expand strategically with them.  We believe this model will strengthen not only the existing teams but also ensure our communities can offer even more options for sports for youth and adults with disabilities.  Importantly, we know this regional approach will allow us the ability to utilize such resources as equipment (often provided by generous donors and grantors!) in a way that supports a region of athletes.

What is so exciting about this Sports Collaborative?

We are tremendously excited because we know local communities around New York have been trying to develop and sustain adaptive and inclusive sports teams for years, and yet we have all experienced the frustrations of not having teams or equipment in place to be able to engage in regional competition.  Competition with other athletes is a HUGE factor in the sustainability of team programs, and when teams have to travel 6 to 10 hours on the road to get to a game, it is often not economically or physically achievable.  So, teams may ultimately end up disbanding when they cannot gain from the important experiences that playing other athletes brings. (Playing your teammates scrimmage after scrimmage gets unproductive after a while!)  In addition, when a program only has a local vision, and there is no regional vision, then we cannot grow in a meaningful manner — such as ensuring programs are available in geographical areas so as to reduce travel time to practices.  (Some of our own Rochester athletes travel at least an hour — one way — to practices!)

Another reason for excitement is that this decision to move from local sports planning to a stronger regional approach has been a long time in the making, as we have solidified our model for addressing barriers that typically inhibit youth and adults from accessing sports.  This Collaborative fits well in RAA’s larger mission to ensure recreation as a whole is provided equitably and inclusively in our community, so that youth and adults can access the many benefits of their activity of choice alongside their friends and peers. 

Indeed, an interesting fact some may not know — while wheelchair basketball at the competitive level (NWBA regulations) requires players to have some classification of a disability, sled hockey and wheelchair lacrosse teams are comprised of people with and without disabilities, making them a fabulous game for inclusive play at competitive levels. And certainly, all of these sports can be inclusive of people with and without disabilities at the recreational level — and we need more opportunities for this throughout our communities in order to engage people with and without disabilities towards the common goal of the pursuit of sports!

A little about Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports

Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports started as the Sled Hockey Foundation in 2015. Its founder is three time Paralympic gold medalist Adam Page. Adam’s wish was to give others the same kinds of opportunities he was given as a youth. As the vision of the foundation grew he realized that athletes needed more than just sled hockey to participate in. Three years ago Adam founded wheelchair lacrosse which helped lead the foundation to their new name: Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports. They now are running, developing or collaborating training with youth and adults in adaptive lacrosse, sled hockey, wheelchair basketball, water sports, curling, skiing, blind hockey and hand cycling.  They also work with the Wounded Warrior Project and are a chapter of Disabled Sports USA. Their mission states: To provide opportunity for individuals with disabilities to participate in adaptive sports and through this participation, develop the social, emotional and physical confidence necessary to become leaders in the community.

GBAS’ president, Norm Page, has dedicated much of the past 30 years to making adaptive sports happen in the Buffalo area.  You can learn more from GBAS’ website at www.gbasports.org . We are very happy to partner with Norm and Adam and all of the athletes in the Buffalo region!

A little about Rochester Accessible Adventures

RAA has been an umbrella organization for the Rochester Wheels wheelchair basketball and Rochester Sled Hockey teams.  Both teams have a long history in the Rochester and WNY region, extending for decades before RAA began.  Recently, we have worked together to coordinate much needed strategic planning for ensuring the continued longevity of the teams — and those strategies will mesh incredibly with the formation of the WNY Adaptive & Inclusive Sports Collaborative to ensure youth and adults are able to access an array of sports options, from recreational to competitive, from hometown to regional divisions.

What’s Next?

Addressing the gaps which impede both youth and adults from participation in sports will be at the forefront of the Collaborative. Placing adaptive and inclusive sports as a priority for the WNY region, the Sports Collaborative will capitalize on proven models for team development and community partnerships as we explore best practices in expanding the availability of sports such as lacrosse, sled hockey and basketball at both youth and adult levels.

We will be looking for community volunteers who want to help with many aspects of these programs, such as coaching (lead and assistant), assisting with practices (equipment and details), and program promotion and fundraising.  Please contact us and let us know of your willingness to help!

And we will be recruiting players for various recreational and competitive sports…so start now to learn more about your next opportunities for sports participation!

Feel free to email us at RAA@RochesterAccessibleAdventures.org  and let us know your interests so we can make sure you know when things are happening!  Join our newsletter mailing list and follow us on our social media platforms (facebook, twitter, and instagram).

Thank you for your continued support of our region’s sports teams!  Your support changes lives!

#MakingInclusionHappen