Monday, October 11, 2010

Car Wash Fund-raiser for Power Soccer team


The Arizona Heat power soccer team hosted a charity car wash at the Chick-fil-a restaurant at the Mesa Riverview and was able to raise over $850 to support the team's expenses for travel to regional and national tournaments. AzDS supports "Matching" funding for one regional or national tournament and the team is fund-raising to support the athlete's matching portion as well as additional funding for a small trip to Glendale, CA for a tournament.


The team is planning to host a charity yard sale over the weekend of November 20th at the Broadway Recreation Center. The team would appreciate your support by donating items to the yard sale...let us sell your junk to support the Arizona Heat Power Soccer team. Contact 480.835.6273 to make arrangements for delivery of your donated items for the yard sale.

AZ well-represented at National tournaments


AzDS sponsored 4 athletes and 2 coaches to attend the 2010 National Junior Disability Championships in Chicago, IL. The 2010 event was hosted by Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) this past July. Jeremiah Ryberg, Joshua Roy and Isaac Ramirez qualified to compete in the archery competition and all three athletes placed in the top three for their class and age division. Jeremiah Ryberg also qualified to compete in the track competition and broke two National records - the 100m and 200m - for his class and age division. Joe Underwood and Isaac Ramirez represented Arizona in the swimming competition and received 1st place in all of their events. Isaac competed in the 25yd and 50 yd backstroke. Joe competed in the 50 fly, 50 free, 100 back, 100 free, 400 free and 4x50IM. Congratulations to the 4 junior athletes that represented the AZ Heat at NJDC! Thank you to Swim Coach Megan Harden and Archery Coach Lise Lindsay for traveling with the team to Chicago.


AzDS sponsored 6 adult athletes and 1 coach to attend the 2010 US National Championships in Mirimar, FL in July. Led by Coach and competitor Troy Davis, the AZ Heat team traveled to Mirimar to compete in track and field events that they qualified in at the 2010 Desert Challenge Games hosted at Red Mt High School in Mesa. The AZ Heat team included Troy Davis, Erik Hightower, David Ryberg, Lamar Ryberg, Stephen Binning and Jonathan Lopez Perez. Congratulations to the team for a great National representation of Arizona!

Congratulations to Intern Rachel Kupitz

Arizona Disabled Sports was very lucky to have a full-time intern over the summer named Rachel Kupitz. Rachel began her internship in June and finished in mid-September. During her 15 weeks with the organization, Rachel was able to participate in the assessment and evaluation process for each program, fundraising and grant-writing processes, budgeting, planning special events and managing volunteers. Rachel has recently passed her CTRS (Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist) exam and will be working hard in the field to support people with disabilities. Best of luck to Rachel! Congratulations on passing the CTRS exam!

Thank you to the Table Sponsors at the 17th Annual Fall Fundraiser

SILVER=$1,000
John and Sue Alig
Arizona Bank & Trust
Dr. James Badge
Boeing Company
Cawood and Gibson, PLLC
Council Member Dina Higgins
Disabled Sports USA / Flancer’s
D.L. Withers Construction
Chris and Sue Hite
John and Linda Hughes
Kohler Company
Lerner & Rowe Phoenix Personal Injury Attorneys
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
Ted and Lynn Moll
Gloria Rusk & Scott Morrison
MSA Engineering Consultants
Dave and Pam Neumeyer
Progressive Roofing
R.C. Lurie Co, Inc.
Schuff Steel Management Co. SW
Taylor’s Flooring
The Mahoney Group
Unite 2 Fight Paralysis

GOLD = $2,000
Simpson Strong-Tie
Valley Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
WD Manor Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

PLATINUM=$3,000
JFK Electrical Contracting Enterprises Inc.
Greg and Ronda Marsh
SW Services, LLC / SPAC Enterprises, Inc.

Thank you to the AzDS Year-Round Sponsors for their generous support

Champion=$10,000 and above
Southwest Airlines

Challenger=$5,000
Desert Club Foundation
Ford Motor Company
Mesa Hohokam Foundation
Subway Kids & Sports Arizona
Vistal Golf Club – Duck & Run Tournament
W. Bradford Perkinson

Competitor=$2,500
Delta Diversified
The Hartford
Greg and Ronda Marsh
SW Services, LLC / SPAC Enterprises, Inc.
Sundt Foundation
WD Manor Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

Charger=$1,000
Boeing ECF
Knights of Columbus
Precision Direct, Inc.
Southwest Asphalt
State Farm Companies Foundation
United Truck & Equipment

AZ Paralympic Experience - Wheelchair Basketball


Individuals with physical disabilities were invited to the Broadway Recreation Center for an introduction to the Paralympic Sport of wheelchair basketball on Saturday, September 25th. Four junior participants along with 4 coaches, 5 volunteers and 6 spectators joined us from 8am-12pm for training, demonstration and drills led by Derek Brown, Peter Hughes and Gary Venjohn. Fourteen adult participants, 5 volunteers, 11 spectators and 3 coaches participated in the afternoon session from 1pm-5pm. The goal of the Paralympic Experience is to introduce a Paralympic sport to a new athlete or introduce a new skill or drill to a current participant. Thank you to Derek, Peter and Gary for donating their time to lead the clinic. AzDS along with Banner Wheelchair Suns hosts a Paralympic Experience annually at the beginning of the season (August or September).

Power Soccer Clinic hosted by PIKA


The Arizona Heat and ASU Power Soccer Clubs joined together on Monday, August 30th at the Broadway Recreation Center for an instructional clinic led by "Pika", a power soccer clinician from Atlanta, Georgia. Pika led the teams in numerous drills to improve their kicking and ball-handling skills and completed the clinic with a scrimmage. Thank you to Pika for sharing his knowledge with the Arizona teams.

Coach Megan Harden receives Disability Swimming Service Award


The purpose of the Disability Swimming Service Awards is to recognize significant contributions by an individual or group to the inclusion of swimmers with a disability in USA Swimming programs or in the sport of swimming. One national-level award and several LSC-level awards are presented annually.
The AzDS swim coach, Megan Harden has been awarded a Disability Swimming Outstanding Coach Award! When Megan met a young swimmer with spina bifida she "didn't see a cute little crippled kid who wanted to swim. She saw a determined athlete who only needed the right coach to do great things. She wanted to be that coach."
Megan has now coached Joe Underwood for four years, including trips to the National Junior Disability Championships and US Paralympics Can-Am competitions. Megan has since included several swimmers with a disability as part of Swim Neptune, and also assumed the swim coach position for AzDS in 2010. Her coaching philosophy centers on helping each of her swimmers to attain their personal goals.
Congratulations Coach Megan!

17th Annual Fall Fundraiser


On Saturday, October 2nd, AzDS hosted the 17th Annual Fall Fundraiser at the Mesa Convention Center. The organization was very pleased to have 365 guests to bid on the 155 silent auction items and 10 live auction items. Kevin Hunt of 12 News entertained the crowd as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Special thank you to auctioneer Greg Gerber, DJ Larry Indelicato, vocalist Laura Danielle Walsh and Monsignor Nestor for their support at the 2010 event. Congratulations to the organizing committee for a successful 17th year - especially Linda Hughes and Deb Krecek who put in countless hours of volunteer work towards the event.

Annually at the Fall Fundraiser, AzDS presents the Jay Coyner Award to the most deserving athlete with a physical disability. The 2010 recipient is Stephen Binning.
Stephen first got involved with sports when he was just 6 years old and has tried every single sport imaginable since then including wheelchair basketball, kayaking, cycling, golf, snow-skiing, water skiing, track, field and archery. He is the most active athlete involved in the programs and is always willing to try something new.
Stephen has traveled all over the country to compete in sports and was even selected for the Beijing Experience through the Paralympic Academy and traveled to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. Most recently, Stephen has been active on his high school track team at Desert Vista High School. Stephen is a quiet leader on the court and pushes himself and his teammates to do the very best. Congratulations to Stephen Binning for winning the 2010 Jay Coyner Award.