EAST LANSING, Mich. – A festival of sports and leisure activities for persons with disabilities will be hosted by Michigan State University Saturday, Sept. 24.
The first annual “Adapted Sports Festival,” a partnership between MSU and Lansing-area agencies and corporations to promote awareness of recreational and leisure activities for persons with disabilities, will be held from 9 a. m. to 7 p.m. at the IM Sports West and Demonstration Hall facilities.
Sports clinics, led by coaches, sports experts and Olympians from the adapted sports fields, will include detailed demonstrations of the sports, which include floor wheelchair hockey, wheelchair basketball goal ball, hand-cycling, power soccer, swimming, tennis and weight training.
“The goal of the festival is to raise awareness among the growing population of persons with disabilities, both at MSU as well as throughout the state,” said John Pedraza, disabilities resource coordinator for employees and psychiatric disabilities at MSU’S Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD), and a member of the festival planning committee.
“It will allow persons both with and without disabilities to explore the recreational activities that are available and to learn more about the benefits of exercise,” he added.
A sled hockey game will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring children and adult players. The sled hockey tram, featuring athletes from the Great Lakes Sports City Sled Dogs and the Grand Rapids Sled Wings, is free and open to the public. It will be held at Munn Field.
Support for the festival comes from a “Creating a More Diverse and Connected Community” grant from the MSU Office of the Provost, other MSU organizations and local and area nonprofit agencies and businesses.
For more information, visit the Web at www.msu.edu/~pedrazaj/adaptedsports2005