Angel City Sports recently hosted an Adaptive Sports Fair at Ted Watkins Park. The fair held clinics for several adaptive sports, including wheelchair basketball, para-fencing, and boccia.
The Sports Fair was done in collaboration with Everytown for Gun Safety.
“We wanted to reach out and make sure that we could connect with people and let them know that our organization exists,” said Everytown Survivor Network senior program manager of campaigns advocacy Tina Meins. “We know that people are super resilient and we want people to come experience the resiliency and the spirit of strength and joy that this whole community has.”
Everytown for Gun Safety associate director of the Survivor Network Stephanie Stone manages the Survivors Connect program. It is a program that pairs up survivors of gun violence to discuss their experiences.
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“It’s great to have a therapist that you can talk to, but with this program, you’re speaking with someone that has your shared experience,” Stone said. “With wounded survivors, a lot of times, they’re left out of the conversation, and they are still living with the effects of gun violence.”
People of all abilities were welcome to learn and play adaptive sports. Attendees were able to play wheelchair football scrimmages and learn the fundamentals of boccia and para-fencing.
Events like the Sports Fair can open possibilities for a participant to find community and to also compete to become a Paralympian. Damon Whittaker first tried para-archery during the Angel City Games in 2021. Now, he is working on making Team USA for LA28.
“I want to make sure that there’s enough representation that’s out here for us in this community,” Whittaker said. “It’s a lot of individuals with disabilities that have not been exposed to these different adaptive sports.”
Along with clinics, the Sports Fair held a resource fair for people with disabilities and their support systems.
“Sports is an excellent way to keep people entertained and prevent them from fighting,” said Disability Voices United outreach specialist Miguel Lugo. “I think it’s extremely beneficial to prevent gun violence and also to grow one’s health, both physical and mental.”
For Alexis Harris, the event allowed her to meet new people and try out wheelchair basketball and football.
“I’m learning new sports, experience new things in the sports for disabled people,” Harris said. “Go out there and learn it and you can achieve it.”
Other organizations that were involved with the Sports Fair included the U.S. Tennis Association, United Fencing Academy, and the Triumph Foundation.
Triumph Foundation ambassador Brianna Wheeler noted how they help disabled people with their basic needs.
“We do home modifications and help them with ramps to get out of their house,” Wheeler said. “I am a survivor of gun violence and I have never been to anything like this that is for people that have dealt with gun violence before and getting resources for that.”
