Adaptive Sports at Sun Peaks (ASSP) has been given a boost by two organizations in Kamloops to enhance their equipment supply for teaching those with a disability to ski.
ASSP was formed at Sun Peaks to provide people with a wide range of disabilities the opportunity to participate in sports and recreation programs alongside other able-bodied people. The program has also encouraged the surrounding community to step up and support disabled athletes in their quest to challenge extensive obstacles.
At the conclusion of the Sun Peaks Adaptive Snow Sports Festival on Saturday, January 30, the Kamloops North Rotary Club and the Kamloops Blazers Sports Society were on hand as ASSP unveiled their two new Mountain Man Sit Skis.
The Kamloops North Rotary Club recently awarded ASSP with a $5000 grant to support the purchase of a Mountain Man Sit Ski. Produced by Mountain Man Products in Boseman, Montana, the piece is a hand-built, full-feature dual ski, meaning it comes without having to purchase additional accessories. One of the skis will be a junior model, and one will be for adults.
The president of Kamloops North Rotary Club, Bob Schrader says they were pleased to support ASSP. “We felt this program is worthy of support and it fits our mandate as a Rotary Club to support the community and abroad.”
The second sit ski contribution came from the Kamloops Blazers Sports Society Legacy Fund. Executive Director Bob Smillie says they also donated $8,500 last year for the purchase of start-up equipment for ASSP. “The grant to Adaptive Sports at Sun Peaks recognizes the importance of the program and its unique contribution to the Region’s sport community, as well as the dedication of a small number of volunteers to such a worthy undertaking.”
“This is really exciting for us as a non-profit organization to have such support from the Kamloops community,” says Dick Taylor from ASSP. “These two sit skis will provide individuals who are confined to a wheelchair or who can’t stand or walk for long periods, the opportunity to feel the rush of gliding down the mountain in a sit ski.”
The Sun Peaks Adaptive Snow Sports Festival was held last week in conjunction with the British Columbia and Western Canadian Para-Alpine Downhill Championships.
The Awareness Week was about inspiration and overcoming the odds as para-athletes gather to prove that having a disability won’t limit them from enjoying winter sports.
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