DisAbility Sports Festival This Weekend in CA

The FREE 8th annual SoCal DisAbility Sports Festival will be held at CSUSB on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (on-site registration starts at 8 a.m.). The DisAbility Sports Festivals are FREE for people with ANY disability and ANY age. Last year, we had 900 participants ages 8 months to 84 years old. This year, organizers expect to have 1000 participants including 100 veterans at the FREE festival. Registration is now open, please click on the links below to register:

October 18th, 2014 DisAbility Sports Festival Registration Form (English Version)

October 18th, 2014 DisAbility Sports Festival Registration Form (Spanish Version)

The DisAbility Sports Festival program is a non-profit organization founded at California State University, San Bernardino and now has grown to multiple cities around the United States. The DisAbility Sport Festival's primary purpose is to promote physical activity and sports for people with any disability, injury, or illness; raise awareness of disability sports and physical activity in the Inland Empire, and provide service-learning opportunities to students to learn how to create and adapt programs for people with disabilities. It is free for people with ANY disability and ANY age.

The DisAbility Sports Festival one-day exhibitions are also in Palm Desert, CA and San Bernardino, CA and New Jersey. We are also in development of a few other festivals around the country. The scheduled DisAbility Sports Festivals for 2015 include:

January 24, 2015 - Palm Desert, CA

Spring 2015 - New Jersey

Those interested in learning more about the DisAbility Sports Festival and community programs should contact Dr. Aaron Moffett at 909-537-5352 or sportfes@csusb.edu.

At the festivals, organizers:
• Introduce participants to several adapted sports with most reports being coached by an elite athlete with a disability;
• Provide t-shirts to participants who pre-register; and 
• Have information booths about other community programs and services available for people with disabilities and their families.

The keynote speaker during the Ceremonies at the 2013 SoCal Disability Sports Festival was Janice Walth who is blind and was the first US woman to compete in the visually impaired archer category. She has set five world records and won a silver and bronze medal at the world championships in archery. She said, “But when I tried it and discovered that this was something I could be in control of, it really inspired me to keep doing it. I liked the idea that, once my equipment was set up and I was sighted in, it was up to me to perform that shot correctly. No one was behind me telling me where to aim the bow; I had to work on my form and perfect my shot just like everyone else.” She truly excited the crowd and motivated them to try numerous activities at our festival.

Once again, The Blind Judo Foundation will provide Judo introductions and coaching for the second time in the eight year history of the DisAbility Sports Festival.

The DisAbility Sports Festivals are a day full of fun and activities for people of all abilities and ages. Again, the festivals are FREE to the public.

Those interested in participating in the next DisAbility Sports Festival, please contact the DisAbility Sports Office by phone at 909-537-5352 or by email at sportfes@csusb.edu.