by Brissa Ojeda on 2013-10-31
Courage and determination abounded as approximately 1,000 registered athletes and supporters flooded Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 20 for the 7th Annual DisAbility Sports Festival.
The festival has attracted athletes living with disabilities looking to compete in at least 20 different sports, including wheelchair and standing basketball, tennis, soccer, wall climbing, swimming and hand cycling since its inception in 2007, when Dr. Aaron Moffett, a professor of kinesiology at CSUSB, began the competitive event.
The purpose of the festival is to increase the sports opportunities for athletes with disabilities and thereby increase their quality of life and health, explained Moffett.
“We really want to open up opportunities for people with disabilities, and the event teaches them that they can go ahead and do whatever … they want to do,” Dr. Aaron Moffett said.
Dr. Moffett discussed his motivation behind founding the event. “One of the very first students I coached in swimming was deaf and was always very frustrated from feeling so excluded from everything, but swimming was the one thing where he felt he belonged, felt accepted, and allowed him to succeed.”
Dispersed among the campus quad area were sponsor tents—sponsors included Molina Healthcare, CSUSB’s Rec Sports, University Diversity Committee, and Inland Empire Health Plan—and an Assistive Technology fair with more than 30 information booths from community programs detailing available services for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Further into the campus, CSUSB fields were filled with countless volunteers playing softball with the registered participants. Other sports included wheelchair and standing basketball, tennis, soccer, wall climbing, swimming, hand cycling, tennis, and tango. As part of the event, the importance of health was also emphasized as an Assistive Technology fair was featured to show families how technology can assist in the daily lives of disabled persons.
Each sport at the event was coached by an athlete with a disability, including Paralympians and other elite-level coaches, who not only coached but also served as examples to participants of their potential abilities. Coaches motivated players with enthusiastic and motivational words.
At the tennis court, a polio-stricken tennis coach coached 6-year-old Jesus Ramirez Jr. , whose wheelchair served as his feet. Every time Jesus, or Chuy—as his parents would call him—would miss a ball, the coach would encourage him, “Don’t give up, son! You can do it!”
Parents Jesus and Rosanna Ramirez have registered Chuy for the Sports DisAbility Festival every year for the last three years, and he loves it.
“This really lets my son know that he can do stuff without being dependent on us. They show him that he can do whatever he wants to do. That way, he never says, ‘I can’t do it,’ because he can always do it. I know he can,” Jesus Ramirez said.
Chuy chimed in after his father, “I like playing sports. I love it!”
At the campus pool, participants swam and some took swimming lessons.
There, visually impaired Senior Olympian Vivian Stancil welcomed participants and advocated for the Vivian Stancil Foundation at the entrance of the pool. She served as motivation to participants as she told her story. Not knowing how to swim and visually impaired, Stancil began to swim at 50 years old. She is now 66 and a Senior Olympic gold medalist. She said, “I’m so happy to be here today in San Bernardino among the young, [the] disabled, and everybody. It’s really important to encourage the young and disabled and let them know that just because you’re handicapped, it’s not over.”
During the Opening Ceremonies, keynote speaker Janice Walth, the first U.S. woman to compete in the visually impaired archery category who has set five world records and is a World Championships silver and bronze medalist archer, said, “When I tried it and discovered that this was something I could be in control of, it really inspired me to keep doing it. I liked the idea that once my equipment was set up and I was sighted in, it was up to me to perform that shot correctly. No one was behind me telling me where to aim my bow; I had to work on my form and perfect my shot just like everyone else.” She also shared her story of how she competed in a “sighted” sport as a blind athlete.
The DisAbility Sports Fair provided free food to all registered participants, volunteers, and supporters, courtesy of the Rotary Club of SB Sunset Rotary, a worldwide service organization with 1.2 million members.
Chehab El Awar, Rotary Club of SB Sunset District Governor, emphasized the importance of this event and service.
“It’s important to make the disabled children feel part of the community again, and that’s exactly what this event does. At the same time, the event also stresses service, which I love. Seeing all the young people and college students coming out and helping out at this event is truly amazing,” said El Awar.
Dr. Aaron Moffett explained he sees this event his pride and joy. “I love it,” Dr. Aaron Moffett said. “This event is just phenomenal. I’m so honored to be a part of it.”
[END]
Disability Sports Festival
Date: Sunday, October 20, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Google Map
Event Location: CSUSB
Address: 5500 University Parkway San Bdno CA 92407
Description: Parking is free in Lot G. Open & free to participants, ages 8 months to 84 yrs, of all abilities.
CONTACT INFO
Website: http://disabilitysportsfestival.org
PR:
DISABILITY SPORTS FESTIVAL’S NEW DATE IS OCT. 20 AT CSUSB
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The 7th annual DisAbility Sports Festival, postponed on its original date because of high winds, has been rescheduled for Sunday, Oct. 20, at Cal State San Bernardino.
Registration is still open and free to participants, ages 8 months to 84 years old, of all abilities at the Disability Sports Festival website . Participants who registered for the original Oct. 5 event do not have to re-register.
Parking is free in Lot G, nearest to the athletic fields at the east end of the campus.
Organizers had to cancel the event when excessive high winds at the Cal State San Bernardino campus made it hazardous for participants, spectators and coaches.
Aaron Moffett, director of the DisAbility Sports Festival, reiterated the importance of safety when he said, “Safety has always been our top priority and always will be. When the winds increased to a dangerous level, we had to postpone the event. However, it just allows us more time to make this year’s event even better.”
Organizers are still expecting as many as 1,000 participants, including more than 100 disabled military veterans, competing in at least 20 different sports, including wheelchair and standing basketball, tennis, soccer, wall climbing, swimming and hand cycling.
Each sport and activity will be coached by an athlete with a disability, including Paralympians, and other elite-level coaches, which, organizers say, is a display of all the participants’ abilities.
The purpose of the festival is to increase the sports opportunities for athletes with disabilities and thereby increase their quality of life and health, said Moffett, who also is a professor of kinesiology at Cal State San Bernardino.
“The program has quickly become one of the largest sporting programs in the country for people with any disability,” Moffett said. “The growth is due to the testament of the need for such programs, especially for wounded warriors.”
“The reason that we do this is because it helps people focus on success and their abilities when sometimes people focus on perceived inabilities,” he said. “One of our military participants last year said that the event made him feel alive again since being back from Afghanistan. The power of sport can touch everyone’s life and that is why we have the DisAbility Sports Festival.”
Also featured will be an Assistive Technology fair discussing how people with disabilities can use technology to improve their quality of life and more than 30 information booths from community programs and services that are available for people with disabilities and their families.
Including volunteers, supporters, spectators and athletes, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people will come to the university for the festival.
Molina Healthcare is the lead sponsor of the event. Other sponsors include CSUSB’s Rec Sports, University Diversity Committee and the Inland Empire Health Plan.
Participants may register online or download the registration form – available in English and Spanish – from the event Web page at http://disabilitysportsfestival.org/?page_id=26.
For more information about the festival, visit the DisAbility Sports Festival website at http://disabilitysportsfestival.org, e-mail mailto:sportfes@csusb.edu, or contact Aaron Moffett at (909) 537-5352. Also, follow the event on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DisAbilitySportsFestival and on Twitter at @DisSportsFest.
For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.
BRISSA’S ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Many people often correlate two words: disabled and weakness. They believe a disability to be a form of weakness causing pain, suffering, and setting limits. Those people quietly say one can’t do it, when indeed one can. They said the one armed veteran next door would never be able to play baseball with his son again. But he did. They said the little boy two houses down who got stricken by polio would never be able to race again. But he did so even on his wheelchair. It’s a pessimistic mentality and above all very, very inaccurate. It’’s “disabled” and “courage” that correlate, a courage that the self proclaimed “normal” ones lack.
This special courage was present in abundance this past Sunday at the California State University, San Bernardino campus as an approximation of about 900 registered participants and supporters flooded the Cal State University. Disabled children, adults, veterans, and their supporters gathered together to be a part of the great 7th annual Disability Sports Festival. CSUSB has hosted the Disability Sports Festival ever since Dr. Aaron Moffett, a professor of kinesiology at CSUSB, founded it seven years ago. The sole purpose of the event is to show to those with a disability that a disability does not stop a disabled from succeeding in whatever it is they want to succeed, particularly sports.
“We really want to open up opportunities for people with disabilities, and so, the event teaches them that they can go ahead and do whatever opportunity they want to do,” Dr. Aaron Moffett said.
Dr. Moffett continued by explaining his motivation to create this event. “One of the very first students I coached in swimming was deaf and was always very frustrated from feeling so excluded from everything, but swimming was the one thing where he felt he belonged, felt accepted, and allowed him to succeed.”
Dispersed among the quad are of the campus were tents of the events sponsors such as Molina Healthcare, CSUSB’s Rec Sports, University Diversity Committee, Inland Empire Health Plan, and more than 30 information booths from community programs and services that are available for people with disabilities and their families. Further into the campus, CSUSB fields were filled with countless volunteers playing softball with the registered participants. Aside from softball there were also other sports available for the participants such as: wheelchair and standing basketball, tennis, soccer, wall climbing, swimming, hand cycling, tennis, and even tango. It was evident the participants were having a blast as all that could be heard from the fields and sporting arenas were competitive yells, motivational words/chants, and lots and lots of laughter. As part of the event, the importance of health was also greatly emphasized as an Assistive Technology fair was featured as a mean to show the families of the participants how technology can improve the quality of life of their disabled loved one.
Each sport at the event was coached by an athlete with a disability, including Paralympians, and other elite-level coaches, which not only coach but also serve as an example to the participants of all their potential abilities. The coaches, despite their disability, were the most enthusiastic people to ever come across. Not a single minute passed by where they were not smiling and made the participants believe in themselves with their motivational words.
At the tennis court, a polio stricken tennis coach coached 6 year-old Jesus Jr. Ramirez, whose wheelchair served as his feet. Every time Jesus, or Chuy-as his parents would call him-would miss a ball the coach would simply say encouragingly with a big smile on his face, “Don’t give up son! You can do it! Don’t give up!” Sure enough, little Chuy eventually got the hang of it and was hitting ball after ball. Each time a new ball would be thrown at him his number ones fans, his parents, Jesus and Rosanna Ramirez, would support him wholeheartedly and yell, “C’mon Chuy! You got this!”
Jesus and Rosanna Ramirez have registered little Chuy for the Sports Disability Festival every year for the last three years, and he loves it.
“This really lets my son know that he can do stuff without being dependent on us. They show him that he can do whatever he wants to do. That way he never says, ‘I can’t do it,’ because he can always do it. I know he can,” Jesus Ramirez said.
As Jesus finished his statement little Chuy had just finished his tennis session and rolled up ecstatically saying, “I like playing sports and doing a lot of stuff! I love it!”
Continuing through the campus, there was a pool where the participants were able to swim and learn some swim positions. There at the pool, visually impaired Senior Olympian Vivian Stancil welcomed every participant and also advocated her Vivian Stancil Foundation at the entrance of the pool. She served as a great motivation to all the participants as she told her marvelous story to countless of participants. Not knowing how to swim and visually impaired, Vivian began to swim at 50 years old. She is now 66 and a Senior Olympic Gold Medalist. Vivian Stancil was one of the many athletes that served as a great example to everyone attending the event.
Vivian’s dedication to swim not only showed just how much potential the disabled have but also the value of hard work. She concluded her story by saying (with an emphasis on “it’s not over”), “I’m so happy to be here today in San Bernardino among the young, disabled, and everybody. It’s really important to encourage the young and disabled and let them no that just because you’re handicap its not over, it’s not over.”
The event provided free food to all registered participants, volunteers, and supporters. The food was provided the Rotary Club of SB Sunset, a worldwide service organization that contains about 1.2 million members.
The Rotary Club was a big supporter and contributor of this event, as they emphasize the importance of service and helping those in need or disabled.
Chehab El Awar, the Rotary Club of SB Sunset District Governor, emphasized the importance of this event and service by saying, “It’s important to make the disabled children feel part of the community again, and that’s exactly what this event does. At the same time, the event also stresses service, which i love. Seeing al the young people and college students coming out and helping out at this event is truly amazing.”
The event was all around a huge success and huge eye opener to those with no disability to not take life for granted and enjoy every aspect of life! Life is beautiful, and the participants that came out today proved so with their smiles and their laughs despite their circumstances.
It’s not surprise that Dr. Aaron Moffett sees this event he created seven years ago as a part of his pride and joy. “I love it,” Dr. Aaron Moffett said as he pensively looked up with a great smile on his face. “This event is just phenomenal. I’m so honored to be a part of it.”