2011 Desert Challenge Games in Mesa

The 2011 Desert Challenge Games hosted 120 registered participants from 14 states across the nation, Canada, Japan and Puerto Rico. The event was very exciting including 1 broken World record in the F11 Long Jump by Elexis Gillette, 13 set America’s records and 6 set junior’s records. The US Paralympics hosted a 4-day Military Camp at Luke Air Force Base where 25 injured servicemen and women joined in a track and field camp to gain the skills to compete at the Desert Challenge Games event. Two of our local veterans - Chris Clemens and Ricardo Renteria participated in the camp at Luke and then competed at the event.

Arizona Disabled Sports had 7 adults and 13 juniors qualify to continue on competing at the National level. Congratulations to all of the athletes and best of luck at the upcoming National events.

Thank you to our host venues including Red Mountain High School, Usery Park Archery Range, Skyline High School Aquatic Center and the Country Inn & Suites in Mesa.

The Local Organizing Committee is extremely grateful for your continued support towards the organization and the Desert Challenge Games. Thank you to event sponsors including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project/DSUSA, Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, Just Water, Inc, Jodi Davis Photography, Starbucks, Symbius Medical, Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association and Sanderson Mobility.

15th Annual Day on the Lake is the best year yet!

The 15th Annual Day on the Lake program at Bartlett Lake Marina was the best year we have ever had!

We had over 100 participants enjoy three days of adapted water sports-water skiing, jet skiing, fishing, boat rides and kayaking, provided by Arizona Disabled Sports. This year we made some wonderful changes to the program. We added Thursday, June 2 to be for those who just wanted to come out and water ski. Many skiers were able to ski multiple times and this was an excellent way to improve the quality of the program and for people to really be able to work on their water skiing skills.
The Jet Ski station was able to provide over 79 rides on Friday and about 60 rides on Saturday, many participants were able to Jet Ski up to 6 more times. The Double Decker Party Boat left the dock full every hour and brought back lots of happy participants and volunteers! The fishing teams enjoyed a friendly competition between the bass boats and the pontoon boats..lets just say..way to go Pontoon team!!

Save the Date for the 16th Annual Day on the Lake from Thursday- May 31 through Saturday, June 2. Thursday date includes water skiing only. Friday and Saturday includes all events-water skiing, jet skiing, fishing, kayaking, & boat rides.

7:30am-3:00pm
Bartlett Lake Marine
www.barrow.com
Barrow Connection
602.406.6280

AZ Heat Team at the 2011 US Paralympics Track and Field National Championships

The Arizona Heat track team including Troy Davis, Stephen Binning, Lamar Ryberg, Erik Hightower, Jonathan Lopez, Chris Clemens and Tanner Gers competed at the 2011 US Paralympics Track and Field National Championships in Mirimar, FL this past June. The team brought home 7 medals including 3 silver (Erik, Tanner & Chris) and 4 bronze (Erik, Tanner and Troy). Lamar, Stephen and Jonathan performed well, narrowly missing the finals in their events.

Congratulations to the AZ Heat team for a great event in Mirimar!

2011 USPSA Premier Conference Cup Recap

After a long season, it was time to test our skills against the best of the best. Over the past few months, we have spent countless hours practicing and sharpening our skills in preparation for one thing: The 2011 USPSA Premier Cup.

This past June, the ASU Power Soccer Club made its way down to Atlanta, GA to participate in the first Premier Conference Cup Tournament. The top 10 teams in the USPSA were invited to participate in the tournament, and we were eager to see how we staked up against the cream of the power soccer crop.

This tournament was also the first Conference Cup to be played under the new USPSA Conference realignment. Instead of having two divisions for the league’s 60 teams, the USPSA is now split into six different conferences, with the best teams in the league being placed in the Premier Conference.

Under the new alignment, the Sun Devils were placed in the top conference. While it was only our first season playing together for Arizona State University, we had several power soccer veterans and had enough skill to hold our own against the best the conference had to offer.

From the minute we arrived in Atlanta, we were eager to get the tournament started. After months of preparation, this is what we play for, a chance at a National title. For three straight days, we competed against top teams like the 2010 National Champions, Circle City Rollers, and perennial title contenders, the Atlanta Synergy. All of the teams showed great improvement and the competition level was at a level I’ve never seen before. Most of the games were decided by two goals or less and were filled with intense, non-stop action.

In the end, the ASU Sun Devils earned seventh place in our inaugural season. While we didn’t finish as high as we hoped, our team played with great heart, determination and respect. So now we return home to continue to build on our successful 2011 season. For now, we will focus on improving and aim to return to the 2012 Premier Cup better than before. Even though the season is over, four words will drive us to new heights into next season:

Wait ‘til next year...

If you would like to stay up to date with ASU’s power soccer club, please follow the ASU Power Soccer Club on Facebook and Twitter, or visit their website at www.asupowersoccer.com.

ASU Power Soccer Club Hosts Golf Benefit

With the temperature living in the low 80s and a steady breeze blowing across the course, more than 60 golfers made their way out to The Links at Queen Creek Golf Course for the annual AZDS Power Soccer Benefit Golf Tournament this past April.

For the fourth consecutive year, power soccer athlete Gabe Trujillo and his family help coordinate the event in an effort to raise funds for the power soccer program at Arizona Disabled Sports (AZDS). This year, the money raised from the tournament went to help cover traveling and registration expenses for the Arizona State University Power Soccer Club as they traveled to the USPSA Premier Cup Tournament in Atlanta, GA in June.

This was the club’s inaugural season and their first major tournament as a team. All of the ASU athletes are current students or graduates and are members of AZDS. The team was eager to attend the tournament and the money raised from the golf tournament would help them get there.

Jack Nicklaus himself could have asked for better weather. Everything seemed to fall in place for an absolutely amazing day out on the links. All the golfers were in great spirits and enjoyed spending a relaxing and fun-filled day on the course to support a great cause.

After the tournament, all of the golfers were treated to a barbecue and awards ceremony to award prizes to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams. Raffle prizes were also handed out during lunch as well.

All in all, the entire tournament was a complete success. Everyone had a great time and the club raised more than $4,000 for their trip to Atlanta.

If you would like to learn more about next year’s tournament, please follow the ASU Power Soccer Club on Facebook and Twitter, or visit their website at www.asupowersoccer.com.

Underwood Competes at Jimi Flowers Classic 2011

Arizona Disabled Sports swimmer Joe Underwood traveled to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for the second annual Jimi Flowers Classic open disability swim meet the weekend of June 25 and 26, partially sponsored by AZDS.

This meet brought together the 44 members of the 2011 National Teams slated to swim at the Pan Pacific Para Swimming competition in Edmonton, Alberta, Can in August and the Para Pan American games in Guadalajara, Mex in November. The two teams were in Colorado for overlapping training camps between June 22 and the 28th. In addition, swimmers as young as 10 years old from around the US came, some for their first US Paralympics swimming experience.

This was Underwood’s sixth US Paralympics meet since March of 2010 as he continues to pursue the chance to make the national team. While Underwood has shown steady improvement in his times since beginning the pursuit of a spot on the US Paralympics team, the altitude in Colorado Springs kept him from matching his best times. He did, however improve his standing against the other swimmers in his classification taking third in most of his events and second in one.

“It’s pretty cool swimming in heats with American and world record holders,” Underwood said. “Saturday was Olympic Day at the OTC and there was a line of people waiting for an autograph from Rudy Garcia-Tolson, who I had just watched swimming the 1500 meter freestyle. An hour before that, I was four lanes over from him in the 50 free.”

All proceeds from the meet, tee shirt and heat sheet sales were donated to a fund to benefit the family of the late Jimi Flowers, former US Paralympics head coach and coach of the Paralympic Residence Team who was killed in a climbing accident in 2009.

Operation Pedal Paddle successful first season

AzDS created a community based cycling and kayaking program called “Operation Pedal Paddle” for injured service members. The adaptive cycling and kayaking sessions were scheduled for six Saturdays from March through June and moved from various locations in the Phoenix Metro Valley and Tucson, Arizona. The kayaking clinics began on the calm waters of the Tempe Town Lake and a pool and lake at the Davis Monthan Air Force Base and then moved to the more difficult waters at Bartlett Lake in Cave Creek, Arizona and Lakeside Park in Tucson, Arizona. Each kayaking session was followed by a cycling clinic on paved paths near the lake where kayaking took place. The cycling sessions began on flat terrain and progressed with each session to include uneven terrain and winding paths. Participants were provided with 2 hours of kayaking followed by lunch and then 2 hours of cycling.

Veterans with physical disabilities were provided the opportunity to explore new outdoor adventure sports or fine tune their current skills in the sport. Each participant was provided with one-on-one instruction and assistance from trained and educated professionals. The injured service members were able to learn about sport safety, explore adaptive equipment, gain skills for all levels of injury, be active, stay fit and enjoy the outdoors with friends and family members.

The organization was able to recruit injured service members through developed relationships and partnerships with local veterans associations, hospitals and local disability organizations. MASD worked with the Davis Monthan Air Force Base and Southern Arizona VA Health Care System to allow injured service members from the southern Arizona area a chance to explore new sports or fine tune their skills in cycling and kayaking. MASD continued the partnerships previously developed with the Phoenix Veterans Administration Hospital, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and Disabled Veterans Association (DVA) to recruit veterans from the Phoenix Metro Valley and surrounding areas. MASD also collaborated with Phoenix, Mesa and Tucson Veterans Centers, the University of Arizona Veterans clinic, Mesa Community College Veterans Affairs Department and Arizona State University Veterans Affairs Department to distribute marketing materials to the community.

The first two clinics provided opportunities for two injured service members from the Phoenix area. The following session in Tucson provided an opportunity for three injured service members. The remaining three clinics scheduled for Tucson and Phoenix anticipate an increase to four veterans per session and have received the registration forms to confirm the four individual’s participation in the next two sessions. The individuals have been offered support for transportation but have not utilized the accessible transportation for the clinics. Due to the low participation numbers, the individuals have been able to bring a friend or family member along with them on the kayaking and cycling clinics. The program has been extremely beneficial for family members to enjoy the adaptive experiences together. An injured serviceman and his girlfriend joined the first session at Tempe Town Lake and she stated, “The clinic has opened his eyes to what he CAN do instead of what he CANNOT do. He is now encouraged to be more active on a daily basis.” The veteran rented a cycle from the MASD program and continues to bike with his girlfriend weekly.

Each participant has been encouraged to continue to participate in adaptive programs in the community. The two individuals that reside in the Phoenix area have continued to participate in the MASD adaptive programs including archery, cycling, and track and field. The two individuals have also been accepted to participate in the Military Camp for track and field hosted by the US Paralympics at the Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix from May 2-6 and will then compete in archery, cycling, and track and field competition at the 2011 Desert Challenge Games from May 6-8 in Mesa, Arizona. The individuals in the Tucson area have been provided with a resource list of adaptive opportunities in their area, although the opportunities are more limited than the Phoenix area. The Tucson individuals are encouraged to join the weekly programs in the Phoenix area and all three are considering the option to participate in the 2011 Desert Challenge Games in Mesa this May. All individuals that participate in Operation Pedal Paddle will remain on the registration list for the Tour de Tucson cycling event in Tucson next fall as well as the registration list for the weekly cycling and kayaking programs provided by MASD from August through December.

Joe Underwood named "Comeback Student Athlete of the Week"

Article from AZ Central - October 2010:

Everything you need to know about Joe Underwood is summarized quite effectively by Joe himself: "Just because I'm in a wheelchair, I still find a way to do anything people tell me I can't do."

It's a mantra by which the 14-year-old Desert Vista High School freshman lives every day of his life. Despite living with spina bifida - a birth defect where the spinal cord doesn't form properly - Joe is an active teen who competes as a swimmer (he even completed the 1.4-mile Alcatraz swim) and on the court in a wheelchair basketball league.

Joe's legs are paralyzed from the condition and by age 8 he had already endured 11 surgeries to alleviate some of the symptoms caused by the spina bifida.

"I feel like every swimmer has some sort of setback," says Joe's swimming coach Megan Harden. "Every swimmer - whether they're abled or disabled - and he can't use his legs."

But that hasn't kept Joe from excelling in his sports of choice. In the swimming pool, Joe has qualified for and is competing at the U.S. and CanAm Paralympic swim meets for the honor of representing the United States at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. On the basketball court, Joe has started every game for the Junior Wheelchair Suns basketball team since he was 11.

He takes care of business in the classroom, where Joe maintains a 3.5 grade point average, and also makes a point to mentor other kids with paraplegia. THAT IS WHY HE IS THE COMEBACK STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE WEEK!