Youth Athletes Face Off In Regional Wheelchair Basketball Game

Check out this Wheelchair Basketball game this Sunday!

We cannot wait for the Rochester Rockets v Buffalo Rims wheelchair basketball game this weekend! Over 25 youth athletes have been practicing and scrimmaging this season, and we’re ready to celebrate with this fourth-of-four travel game series! This game is open to the community – we hope you can drop by and cheer on the youth!

We are so happy to be partnering with the City of Rochester’s R Centers for our wheelchair basketball programs! “The City of Rochester R-Centers have a long-standing relationship with Rochester Accessible Adventures,” says Kendra Hayle-Laboy, Director of Recreation & Center Operations with the Department of Recreation and Human Services. “Through our shared values, we strive to promote welcoming spaces for all participants to take part in youth sports offerings. We look forward to continued growth and opportunities at more R-Center locations.”

Can’t attend but want to support our on-going practices and team development? Help Make Inclusion Happen here and know that your donation is part of helping Make Inclusion Happen in Greater ROC and WNY!

You can read the entire Press Release below!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ROCHESTER, NY – March 17, 2023– ROCHESTER ACCESSIBLE ADVENTURES (RAA) is proud to highlight the first two inclusive youth wheelchair basketball programs in WNY! In partnership with the City of Rochester’s R Centers, we will host a home game on March 19, 2023, to both celebrate and amplify the need for accessible and inclusive youth sports.

After first piloting inclusive youth wheelchair basketball in Rochester in 2019, RAA emerged from the Covid pandemic determined to introduce and support the growth of a full array of sports that youth with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities can access.  Creating the WNY Adaptive and Inclusive Sports Collaborative with Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports in 2020, RAA continues to focus on that mission-driven work, currently propelling basketball, sled hockey, tennis, pickleball, fencing and more into our communities.

On Sunday March 19, 2023, at 2:00PM, the Rochester Rockets will host a season finale game with their counterpart, the Buffalo Rims, at the Trenton & Pamela Jackson R Center, 485 N. Clinton, Rochester, NY 14605. Families from the Rims team had attended the pilot program in 2019 and took the game back to their hometown to rally players and start athlete and team development. Now, over 25 youth athletes with and without disabilities practice weekly and compete in travel games!

“This game on Sunday is quite significant because it speaks to a longtime need for adaptive and inclusive sports opportunities to be available to youth with disabilities,” says Anita O’Brien, RAA’s Executive Director. “Every community has the imperative to ensure all of their youth have choice and opportunity to participate in recreation and sports — and we know our communities in Greater Rochester and WNY are able to make this happen! We are very grateful for the City of Rochester’s R Centers for being a pivotal part of this journey! The past two seasons working with the staff at Trenton & Pamela Jackson R Center have been wonderful!”

Guests are invited to this free game to cheer on youth from Rochester and Buffalo, and celebrate the expansion of youth sports opportunities for youth with disabilities. Both teams are comprised of youth with and without disabilities – siblings, friends, new friends – all learning to play wheelchair basketball. Wheelchair basketball rules are very similar to standup basketball, which variations that are particular to the use of the sports chairs. Athletes can aspire to play at recreational levels and/or develop for competitive tournament and Paralympic play.

About Rochester Accessible Adventures

Rochester Accessible Adventures is a non-profit with a mission to improve the health and wellness of people with disabilities by guiding communities to create a culture of physical accessibility, social inclusion and equitable open access in recreation, sport and tourism. RAA works with recreation businesses across the Greater Rochester, Finger Lakes and Western New York region, providing training and guidance to enable those businesses to operate inclusively whenever their doors are open.

RAA’s work engages entities like Midtown Athletic Club & USTA Eastern to develop inclusive tennis instruction, Perinton Recreation & Parks and Victor Recreation & Parks to develop access to inclusive recreation and mountain biking, Girls Scouts of WNY to ensure scouting is inclusive of people with disabilities, and the DEC Region 8 to enhance connections to accessible outdoor recreation. They also work with libraries, schools, after-school programs, tourism businesses, and more. This work has resulted in: tangible operational change that sustains a culture of inclusion, removal of physical barriers, and increases in participation in active recreation by over 800 individuals with a variety of intellectual/developmental and physical disabilities – alongside their family, friends and peers without disability.

For more information about Rochester Accessible Adventures, visit www.RochesterAccessibleAdventures.org

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Contact

Anita O’Brien, Executive Director, Rochester Accessible Adventures

585-491-6011, aobrien@RochesterAccessibleAdventures.org