Sports
Partnership Places ‘No Limits’ on Youngsters with Disabilities
An annual event brings physically challenged children together for a day of fun, learning and camaraderie.
Like most Saturdays, the All People’s Life Center in Tampa was chockfull of children and young adults.
They’d come to play some basketball, practice a little tennis, participate in a couple of soccer clinics and partake in the field events of their choice.
Weekend access to athletic activities like these are numerous for most young sports enthusiasts.
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But for the group of about 80 youngsters who packed the universally accessible facility on this particular day, the opportunity only presents itself once a year.
The occasion was the annual No Limits Sports Day for Children, an event that partners physically challenged youth from Shriners Hospital for Children–Tampa and athletes with physical disabilities ages 6 to 22 from Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay, a program of the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.
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“The purpose is to expose our children to adaptive sports and community sports and a way to get them interested in sports that they might not have known about,” said Shriners spokeswoman Jamie Parker.
Sandy Smith, director of rehabilitation services at the Shriners Hospital in Tampa, said the social and educational aspects of the events are just as important as the sports opportunities.
“Kids in our program will tell you this is like their second family,” said Andy Chasanoff, Paralympic program coordinator, who noted he relishes the group’s partnership with Shriners. “It fosters a great community relationship.”
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