COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Forty-eight student-athletes with physical disabilities and 25 coaches will come to the U.S. Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs next Friday for the 2007 National Paralympic Academy, June 1-4.
The students will participate in sports training sessions with U.S. Paralympians, a VIP tour of the OTC, and they will also spend the weekend being mentored by Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
“The National Paralympic Academy is a great opportunity to introduce children with physical disabilities to Paralympic sport,” said Charlie Huebner, Chief of U.S. Paralympics. “In addition to sports, these students work closely with Paralympic athletes who act as mentors and help them realize all that is possible.”
Featured sports at the training sessions will include goalball, judo, volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
Coaches will learn more about how to promote Paralympic sport in their communities, as well as the importance of physical activity among children with physical disabilities.
2007 National Paralympic Academy Student Roster
Richard Beck (Wasilla, Alaska)
Ally Beischer (Anchorage, Alaska)
Samuel Blakely (Henefer, Utah)
David Brown (Hazelwood, Mo.)
Logan Burke (Omaha, Neb.)
Kelsey Butler (Allen, Texas)
Nehemiah Cameron (Chattaroy, Wash.)
Thomas Carroll (Glenview, Ill.)
Tyler Carter (Topton, Pa.)
Colin Cutter (Piedmont, Okla.)
Sawyer Elkins (Bloomington, Ind.)
Ace Finch (Council Grove, Kan.)
Dylan Fischbach (Vermillion, S.D.)
Elizabeth Flora-Swick (Gardner, Kan.)
John Gardner (Spokane, Wash.)
Trevon Graves (St. Louis, Mo.)
Brynn Haines (St. Louis, Mo.)
John Hairston-Abbott (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Tyler Halatek (Reedsburg, Wis.)
Jonathan Heider (Green Bay, Wis.)
Eric Holzthum (Bethlehem, N.H.)
Cole Hunter (Merrimac, Mass.)
Kelsie Kellen (O’Fallon, Mo.)
Robert Layman (Silt, Colo.)
Jessica Lindsay (Inverness, Ill.)
Chris Madden (Austin, Texas)
Chelsea McClammer (Benton, Wash.)
Michael McHugh (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.)
Tyler Pickett (St. Paul, Mo.)
Lisa Penoyer (Dacula, Ga.)
Miguel Reyes (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Cathryn Reynolds (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Anthony Rogers (Austin, Texas)
Adam Rose (Macomb, Mich.)
Joshua Ruoff (Topeka, Kan.)
Luke Russell (Verona, Wis.)
Adam Saladana (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Tristan Salvadori (Wilmington, Del.)
Roderick Sewell (Fairfield, Ala.)
Matthew Simpson (Smyrna, Ga.)
Jonathan Taylor (Round Rock, Texas)
Arturo Torres (San Antonio, Texas)
Ian Trollinger (San Diego, Calif.)
Kristy Vaughn (Corry, Pa.)
Amberlynn Weber (Greenacres, Wash.)
Ellaun Williams (St. Louis, Mo.)
Jasper Wilson (Troy, N.Y.)
John Wise (Menlo Park, Calif.)
Coaches Roster
Diane Barras (Waterford, Maine)
Marilyn Blakely (Henefer, Utah)
Rebecca Boyce (Gaylord, Mich.)
Mary Bozzone (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Claudia Brewer (Sterling Heights, Mich.)
Jeffery Brown (Albany, Ga.)
Thomas Carr (Durham, N.H.)
Timothy Cobb (Imperial, Mo.)
Jacinda Danner (Palmer, Alaska)
Marc DePerno (Deerfield, N.Y.)
Donald Dew (Lake Placid, N.Y.)
Jeff Dick (Anchorage, Alaska)
Pamela Greene (Chester, N.Y.)
Heather Grunwald (Anchorage, Alaska)
Beverly Jackson (Austin, Texas)
Tom Kersey (Newport, N.H.)
Anne Krupp (Fostoria, Ohio)
Donna Niethe (Wayne, N.J.)
Peggy O’Neill (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
Glen O’Sullivan (Zion, Ill.)
Donna Santiago (Wilmington, N.Y.)
Hal Simpson (Smyrna, Ga.)
Thomas H. Southall (Aurora, Colo.)
Kaiti Stapleton (Chicago, Ill.)
Robyn Stawski (Tampa, Fla.)
Photos courtesy of Greg Mallory
Greg Mallory is, among other thing, a lawyer, L1 Paraplegic, white water kayaker and Captain of the U.S.Disabled Nordic Ski Team, a post that he was nominated for by the other members of the team. He has been in the chair 13 years, kayaking 12 of those, and is the 1st disabled person, in a group of 1st people, to conquer the remote Mangde Chu river in the
Himalayan region of Bhutan.
These 1st peoples trip was broadcast on the Discovery Channel and was aptly named "Adventure Bhutan," I had no idea about Greg's involvement, but I did have every intent of watching the program anyway. I like those kind of shows, so imagine my surprise when the expeditions leader and trip organizer announced "paralympic and paraplegic athlete Greg Mallory."
If my neck wasn't already fused I probably would have needed it after my head snapped around to face the television. The documentary was awesome, As I said in the last paragraph, he was the first para to navigate the Mangde Chu, and after a few emails to find him I got a short telephone conference. It was really cool that I was able to ask him some questions, one person in a chair to another.
Ralph: How did you get involved with "Adventure Bhutan?"
Greg: Two of my teammates were friends of mine, Brooke and rookie Will Hovey. I met Gerry Moffatt, the expedition's leader, a few years back and when I got his email asking if I wanted to be involved..... well the answer is obvious.
Ralph: Bhutan has some ridicilous topography, seeing you getting dragged in your kayak to the put in was kind of cool. Your position on the team was alot of responsibility. Safety Kayaker, being responsible for others, that's a big deal.
Greg: The Himalaya's aren't an easy place to travel, and it is certainly a sense of accomplishment.
Ralph: Getting back to the river.... There were a few places on the trip when the river wasn't run, places that one of your teammates described as "50-50 at best." The documentary completley leaves you out at these points. They are called "Portage" and required lots of climbing and walking. That oviously isn't happening, and how much dragging was done?
Greg: It definitely doesn't come across on the show how difficult it was. It felt like they made less out of the logistics than there was. There was a point, I was on a horse, a small himalayan style horse, and the horse's leader didn't seem concerned. We were going up a steep trail, I was hanging on for dear life.
Ralph: I bet some of the people of Bhutan had never seen a person in a chair. In the documentary some of your teammates went into this amazing Buddhist temple, the temple had some crucial stairs and ladders, and again there was no mention of your experience. Did you get a chance to go in any of those temples?
Greg: Yeah it was obvious that some of the people of Bhutan had never seen a wheelchair, it is an immensely isolated country. Bhutan's culture and their people are very humble so there wasn't any feeling I was a "freak show", and yes I went inside the temples, some of the boys (my teammates) carried me up the stairs.
Ralph: Towards the end of the documentary there was a class 5 rapid, and it was pretty obvious nerves were playing a part in your decision to run it or not.
Greg: Not many people in a chair boat, and I was the 3rd person, and the 1st para to ever do that section of river. It wasn't the hardest section of river I have done, but it was humbling and very fulfiling to be the 1st disabled person.
Ralph: What's the deal with your position and the responsibilities as Captain of the U.S Disabled Nordic Ski Team?
Greg: Not too much right now. It's the off season for skiing and I'm just training cardiovascular and strength. The World Cup is in the beginning of 2008 and as that gets closer my training will be more ski specific. Mostly it is just communicating with the coaches and team members.
Ralph: How about some of our options in the future to get up and walk again. I mean "stem cells or cyborgs." If you had your choice which would you pick?
Greg: Stem Cells definitely. I don't know alot about cyborg technology, it's not something I look into regularly.
Ralph: I understand that. Cyborg technology and robitics is kindof an obsession of mine. Did you know there is an exoskeleton built in Japan that nearly summitted the Matterhorn with a quadriplegic? It's based on bio-feedback sleeves that the user puts their limbs in and then a computer interprets their muscle signatures, amplifying them with batteries and outputting the amplified signal to motors built into the joints of the exoskeletons frame. Maybe it's a little crazy but that's the route I would go.
Greg: No I had no idea about that. I went to the Miami Project shortly after my injury for therapy and bio-feedback so it's definitely interesting.
Ralph: When you dream are you in or out of the chair? For me even if I'm out of the chair it's always present, somewhere in my field of vision.
Greg: For me, in my dreams I'm either in or out of the chair. It's one way or another.
Ralph: Any plans for other adventures coming up?
Greg: I'm probably going to Idaho for a kayaking trip. Other than that just lots of kayaking, multi day training and staying in shape.
Ralph: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me.
Greg: It was my pleasure, take care.
Photo U.S Paralympics
Be sure to tune-in to NBC’s Today Show tomorrow, Wednesday, May 16th at 7:30 a.m. EASTERN TIME for a story focusing on the pros and cons of prosthetics in sport. U.S. Paralympian Jeff Skiba (Chula Vista, Calif./Issaquah, Wash.) will talk about his success in the sport of track & field, including winning at silver medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games and becoming the first Paralympic athlete to compete in the able-bodied Track & Field Indoor National Championships. Again, that’s 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time!
For scheduling reasons, the story on U.S. Paralympian Jeff Skiba (Chula Vista, Calif./Issaquah, Wash.) that was supposed to air this morning on NBC’s Today Show was postponed. It has been rescheduled to air tomorrow, Thursday, May 17th in the first hour of the show – roughly 7:18 a.m.
Wheelchair Tennis - Stephen Welch, Men's Former World #1 wins first title since 2005
International Paralympics - Canadian Athlete Kimberley Joines suspended for doping violation. IPC says "Joines tested positive for carboxylic acid metabolite of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (at a concentration greater than 15 ng/ml) at the 2007 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Aspen, USA, on 17 January 2007. The substance is included in the 2007 Prohibited List and consequently prohibited under the IPC Anti-Doping Code, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC)."
No one expected them to make it to D-I. No one expected them to make it to the finals. No one expected them to win. But the Harlequins didn't care what people expected! Read about their tough 47-45 win over the Lakeshore Demolition here.
NEW ITF Wheelchair Tour Event
Joining the likes of Roland Garros, the US Open, Wimbledon, and the Australian Open, the Rome WTA Tour event will be adding an exhibition wheelchair tennis tournament. The tournament will be on May 19 and will be between Peter Wikstrom(SWE), Stefan Olsson(SWE), Fabian Mazzei(ITA), and Martin Legner(AUT). It sounds like the sport of wheelchair tennis is really growing, being backed by the entire industry. Here's what President Binaghi had to say about the news, "Exactly as it happens in the four most important tournaments of the world, there is a wheelchair tennis exhibition event. In this way, Rome will play a great role not only for the Italian tennis movement but also for global wheelchair tennis."
Also on a more personal note, the Atlanta Open starts today. My friend and wheelchair tennis coach Greg Taylor, will be competing in the Quad events. I will be giving a full review of the tournament early next week so check back and see how Greg does.
The Ex starts this Friday
Starring Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, and Jason Bateman.
Tom just wants his wife Sophia to be happy. Chip however, just wants Tom's wife. Chip, a paraplegic, is hell bent on winning back his high school lady. I've only seen the trailer but the movie looks hilarious. Click here to watch some trailers.
The 2000 Sydney, Australia paralympics were what I think should be the model for all future Paralympic Events. An unbelievable 1.4 million tickets were sold at $10.00 for an all day, all event pass. That amount more than doubled the Paralympic Events of Atlanta's sales.
Even more amazing was that the wheelchair tennis outsold the a/b's! There were many matches with attendance of 7 -10,000. That's cool...... predictably David Hall and Esther Vergeer won golds.
Here is the coolest part.."Bonn, Germany – The third Visa Paralympic World Cup will not only excite spectators at the competition venues. For the first time, sports fans around the world can watch top quality BBC footage of one of Paralympic Sports’ biggest annual events on the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) internet television channel.
The 2008 Paralympics will be televised on the internet. You can watch it on Paralympic Sport here.
Man this guy can samba! And the girl is hot too...
One Leg - Click here for this week’s top video clips
Working on getting it fixed........The headless chairman! It's Wheelabod Crane! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Video of Clay Dyer from ESPN.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) presented its 2006 Coach of the Year honorees at a luncheon held today in collaboration with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row in Washington, D.C.
The USOC also presented awards to the 2006 SportsMan, SportsWoman, Paralympian, and Team of the Year honorees.
Swimming was in the spotlight for the two Paralympic awards, as Julie O'Neill (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was named USOC Paralympic Coach of the Year, while Jessica Long (Baltimore, Md.) received her USOC Paralympian of the Year award, which had previously been announced.
O’Neill, head coach of the 2006 U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Team, led the U.S. team that won the overall medal count at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa. It was the first time the U.S. had won the medal count at an IPC World Championships or Paralympic Games in the sport of swimming. Twenty of the 25 athletes on the roster finished with at least one medal, and three of the five who did not medal had at least one fourth-place finish.
The other finalists for Paralympic Coach of the Year were James Gumbert (wheelchair rugby/Austin, Texas) and Ron Lykins (wheelchair basketball/Stillwater, Minn.).
Long played a major role in helping O'Neill build that medal count in Durban, winning gold medals in all nine events (seven individual, two relay) she competed in and setting five world records (100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m IM, 400m freestyle and freestyle relay). The World Championships capped off a year for Long that included 11 other world record-setting times, including three at the 2006 U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships in August. She is Swimming World’s 2006 Disabled Swimmer of the Year and was named a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year. She was recently awarded the AAU James Sullivan Award as the nation’s premier amateur athlete.
Other honorees announced today for 2006 Coach of the Year are National Coach of the Year Bud Keene (U.S. Ski and Snowboard/Stowe, Vt.), Developmental Coach of the Year Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson (U.S. Figure Skating/Wellesley, Mass.), Volunteer Coach of the Year Booker Woods (USA Track & Field/Los Angeles, Calif.) and “Doc” Counsilman award winner Kat Arbour (U.S. Figure Skating/Philadelphia, Pa.).
Announced in January 2007, the other honorees for the 2006 USOC athlete awards are SportsMan of the Year Joey Cheek (long track speedskating/Greensboro, N.C), SportsWoman of the Year Hannah Teter (snowboarding/Belmont, Vt.) and Team of the Year the U.S. Men’s Curling Team. The curling team comprises members Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.), Joe Polo (Cass Lake, Minn.), John Shuster (Chisholm, Minn.) and Scott Baird (Bemidji, Minn.).
Taken for U.S. Paralympics
Almost 350 of the world's top disabled athletes from 47 countries will be in Manchester for the Visa Paralympic World Cup in May.
This is the third year of the event which will run from 7-13 May at three venues in Manchester with wheelchair basketball, cycling, swimming and athletics all featuring on the schedule.
Among the highlights will be Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson's final race before she brings the curtain down on her illustrious career.
BBC Sport gives you the lowdown on what to expect from each event.
There will be live coverage from the Paralympic World Cup on Sunday 13 May on BBC Two from 1545-1745 BST
Lory was always an animal lover so she was happy to get a single little pig from her sister. As her love for swine grew, so did her herd. Starting with just one, it quickly grew to hundreds that live on the 20 acre Pig Tales Sanctuary.
However, the film seems to focus just as much on Lory's mom, Charlene, as it does Lory. Much like Lory does for her muddy little friends, Charlene is the primary caretaker for Lory. The film shows her struggles to keep Lory healthy while she rides around in the muck taking care of her babies. She is also highly involved in the ridiculous struggle with CSX Corp. over Lory's worker's compensation case.
Feeding and caring for hundreds of pigs isn't cheap. The film shows Lory sinking deeper and deeper in debt and depression as she awaits her final settlement from CSX Corp., which she plans to put right into the sanctuary.
The Hollywood Reporter says: "Bottom line: An unflinching portrait of how a woman chooses to live after a devastating injury and a damning testament to the gaping holes in the workers' compensation system."
Orlando Sentinel: "Lory has this big spider living in her room, huge. [says Charlene Yazurlo, her mother] And she won't kill it. She tells me the other day, she's all excited to see this spider, the size of her fist, coming out to see her." Charlene Yazurlo chuckles at the very notion of being this committed to life, even spider life. "I don't find that exciting at all."
There are still a couple screenings coming up for this film if you are interested in seeing it.
- Jacksonville Film Festival (May 20, 2007 @ 4pm; Jacksonville, FL)
- Film Arts Foundation: True Stories (June 20, 2007 @ 7:30pm; San Fransisco, CA)
Official Website
We are going to look a bit jacked for the next bit! I'm changing back from Doug Bowman's beautiful, but not right for here template. Firdamatic has an awesome generator for this and other 3 column template Bloggers, no widgets for blogger beta, but I did this there. No offense Doug, I just like it better.
