Wheelchair Sports Federation | Adaptive Sports Organization

18th Annual Al Youakim Wheelchair Basketball Tournament

11th Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament

Written by John Hamre
This past weekend, the 11th Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament took place at the new Citi Field, home of the New York Mets in parking lot A. Two fields were stripped on the pavement and fencing was put up to resemble a true softball field. 5 Wheelchair Softball Teams sponsored by Major League Baseball franchises were in town to compete. The RIC Cubs, New England Rolling Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets and New York Yankees fought for the coveted "Kelly Cup", named after United Spinal Associations's former Executive Director, Jerry Kelly. After playing 11 games in the shadow of the new stadium and hosting a clinic for over 125 kids with disabilities from the NYC Department of Education, the RIC Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox in extra innings to win the 11th Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament. On behalf of the players, coaches and Wheelchair Sports Federation, I'd like to thank Jill Knee, Danielle Parillo and the NY Mets for their continued support as well as the NYC Parks & Recreation Department. Without their help, we could not have a premiere Wheelchair Softball Tournament in New York City and one of the better events for Adaptive Sports in the United States. 2012 Final Results: 1st Place - RIC Cubs 2nd Place - Chicago White Sox 3rd Place - New York Mets 4th Place - New England Rolling Red Sox 5th Place - New York Yankees 2012 All-Tournament Team Awards Pitcher - Alez Parra - RIC Cubs Catcher - Larry Labiak - RIC Cubs 1st Base - Paul Smith - Chicago White Sox 2nd Base - Eric Phillips - Chicago White Sox 3rd Base - Kurt Smith - RIC Cubs Shortstop - Joe Mendez - NY Mets Left Field - Evan Thorn - Chicago White Sox Centerfield - Curtis Lease - RIC Cubs Short Field - Kalvin McClendon - Chicago White Sox Right Field - Eric Wilkens - Chicago White Sox Best Quad - JR Boyer - Chicago White Sox Sportsmanship - Hector Bruno - RIC Cubs Best Rookie - Jason Wheeler - Rolling Red Sox Most Valuable Player - Paul Moran - RIC Cubs Al Youakim Volunteer & Spirit Award - Danny Miller Video from NY 1 is at this link - http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/169017/wheelchair-softball-tourney-takes-place-in-queens
Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 September 2013 17:59

Wheelchair Tennis Clinic (NJ)

Written by John Hamre

Participants, learn the basics of wheelchair tennis from Dylan Levine, center, a Paralympic wheelchair tennis player, who plays for the ITF Wheelchair pro tour. The event is sponsored by the Union County Department of Parks and Community Renewal in collaboration with the Paralympic Sport Club, the Children’s Lightning Wheels, the Wheelchair Sports Federation and USTA Eastern New Jersey. The three-hour tennis clinic was held at Rahway River Park and intended to encourage athletes, ages 10 years and older, with a physical disability, to become more active and be exposed to a new sport. RAHWAY , NJ 9/15/12 (Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger)

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 September 2012 19:07

U.S.wins five medals on day two of London 2012 Paralympic Games

Written by Administrator

August 31, 2012

LONDON – Team USA added five more medals its count on day two of competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, bringing its total medal count to 11.

Below is a brief recap of some of the day’s action. For more information and results visit
www.usparalympics.org and www.youtube.com/usparalympics.

Archery

Four years ago in Beijing, American archer and Army veteran Russell Wolfe (Widnoon, Pa.) competed in his first Paralympic Games. He finished 29th in his division and knew he wanted to
improve on that performance. On Friday morning under chilly conditions at the Royal Artillery Barracks, he did just that. Unfortunately for Wolfe, the afternoon match did not go as planned as he struggled with his form. The result was a 6-0 loss to Pellegrin, one of the favorites to medal in this event.

You can check out highlights and Wolfe’s reaction here:
http://youtu.be/JviRjkDiKEA

Cycling
Team USA’s Joe Berenyi set a new world record on his way to winning the gold medal
in the men’s individual C3 Pursuit at the velodrome on Friday. After a hiccup at the starting line due to a mechanical issue, Berenyi (Aurora, Ill.) was issued a restart and proved his mental toughness by finish atop the podium with a time of 3:36.148. He set the world record earlier in the day during his qualification round.

Check out highlights from his gold medal race here: http://youtu.be/4mKHauj8mNw

Equestrian
Donna Ponessa (New Windsor, N.Y.) piloted Wes Dunham's Western Rose to a score of
70.235% in front of the Ground Jury of Kjell Myhre, Sarah Rodger, Gudrun
Hofinga, Freddy Leyman and Anne Prain.

Riding in Grade 1a competition, Ponessa produced a steady, rhythmic test with the 9-year-old
Oldenburg mare to earn fifth place.

Rowing
Kicking off racing for the U.S. was single sculler Ron Harvey (Downingtown, Pa.), a
nine-time national team veteran and two-time Paralympian, Harvey lined up with Great Britain’s Beijing Paralympic champion Tom Aggar, who has been unbeaten since his 2007 world championship debut, and didn’t disappoint his roaring home crowd in the grandstands today.

Aggar won the heat with open water in a 4:56.65, with Korea’s Jun-Ha Park and Brazil’s Luciano Luna de Oliveira going two-three. Harvey finished fourth in a 5:05.45.

U.S. trunk and arms mixed double sculls teammates Oksana Masters (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Marine Corps veteran Rob Jones (Lovettsville,Va.), needed to win in order to advance to the
final and avoid the repechage. Instead, they finished second to defending Beijing Paralympic champion China, who set a new Paralympic and world best time of 3:54.92.

The U.S. duo will now need a top two finish in Saturday’s repechage in order to qualify for the final. France’s Stephane Tardieu and Perle Bouge advanced to the final from the first heat with a winning time of four minutes flat.

Swimming

Swimmers Jessica Long and Navy Lt. Brad Snyder were golden Friday at the Aquatic Center.
Team USA claimed three swimming medals on the second day of competition, with Long’s world record breaking swim in the 400-meter freestyle (S8), Snyder’s first Paralympic gold in the 100m freestyle (S11) and Elizabeth Stone’s bronze in the 100m backstroke (S9).

Check out Snyder’s swim here: http://youtu.be/Hl3ep_Mb4aY

Sitting Volleyball
It was a tough start to the London 2012 Paralympic Games for the U.S. Paralympic Women's
Sitting Volleyball Team. Team USA, the defending Paralympic Games silver
medalists, took on China, the reigning Paralympic Games gold medalists. Team
USA won the first set, marking the first time the U.S. has beaten China’s best,
and won eight of the first 10 points in the second set. But the Americans
ultimately fell 3-1, beginning competition at 0-1.

View highlights here: http://youtu.be/xQ58x4qFCSE

The U.S. will continue preliminary pool-play action on Saturday against Slovenia.

Track & Field
Two-time U.S. Paralympian Scot Severn (Unionville, Mich.), a U.S. Army veteran, won a London 2012 Paralympic Games bronze medal in the men's shot put (F52/53) on Aug. 31. He threw 8.26 meters for a score of 884, edging out the fourth place finisher Ales Kisy of the Czech Republic by six points and .03 meters.Two-time U.S. Paralympian Scot Severn, a U.S. Army veteran, won a London 2012 Paralympic Games bronze medal in the men's shot put (F52/53) on Aug. 31. He threw 8.26 meters for a score of 884, edging out the fourth place finisher finisher Ales Kisy of the Czech Republic by six points and .03 meters.

View highlights here: http://youtu.be/d16wGpOADWA

Women’s Wheelchair Basketball
The U.S. Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team dropped its second game of the preliminary rounds to Germany Friday at the Olympic Park Basketball Arena. The final score of the closely contested game was 54-48. At the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, the two teams
played for the gold medal.

View highlights here: http://youtu.be/6uor-1vS-pA

Anyone interested in receiving our daily email updates, can sign up through this link: https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1375448/24345/?v=a.

For complete Games results, you can visit www.london2012.com.

Go Team USA!

U.S. Olympic Committee, Paralympic Division
1 Olympic Plaza | Colorado Springs, CO 80909
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | www.usparalympics.org

11th Annual Youth Track and Field Meet (NY)

Written by John Hamre

On Thursday August 9th at Icahn Stadium, Randalls Island NY, The CityParks Foundation held it's 11th Annual Youth Track and Field Meet. Children ages 5- 16 from 13 different parks competed againist each other in several athletic events. Included in the program for the third summer was the track and field program for students with special needs and physical disabilities. For five weeks this summer, over 140 student athletes with special needs from six area schools and the New York YMCA trained twice a week to compete with 1500 of their abled bodied peers. Pictured here is the group from the Cross Island YMCA after the meet. Congratulations to all the athletes and thanks to the CityParks Foundation.

Last Updated on Saturday, 25 August 2012 14:50

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