"to provide national leadership and opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through participation in community sports, competition, recreation, high performance sport and educational programs."[2]
Move United is an American non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of parasports among youths and adults with physical disabilities. The organization operates community parasports programs via over 150 local chapters across the country.[3] Move United was formed in 2020 as a merger of two organizations; Disabled Sports USA, which was first founded in 1956 and based in Rockville, Maryland,[4][5] and Adaptive Sports USA, a second organization founded in 1967. Move United is a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.[6] As of 2020, the organization operates programs serving 100,000 residents in 43 states.[6] In 2020, the two organizations merged as Move United, introducing a new identity by Superunion. A goal was announced for the organization to serve 90% of the U.S. population with local programs by 2028, in time for the 2028 Summer Paralympics in Los Angeles.[6]
Adaptive Sports USA (formerly the National Wheelchair Athletic Association, Wheelchair Sports USA, and Wheelchair & Ambulatory Sports, USA) was established in 1956, as the National Wheelchair Athletic Association, by disabled military veterans to help rehabilitate the war injured returning from Korea.[7]
Mostly a volunteer organization, Adaptive Sports USA worked in conjunction with local and regional sports organizations to develop and promote sanctioned sporting events for youths and adults with a physical disability. The mission of Adaptive Sports USA was to engage, evolve, and empower individuals with a disability to be involved in adaptive sport through education, coaching and advocacy. By creating a community outreach program, Adaptive Sports USA increased opportunities for individuals with a disability and are a gateway to regional, national and international multi-sport competitions.
Each year Adaptive Sports USA sponsored the Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals (formerly the National Junior Disability Championships [NJDC]), the longest continually run competition for athletes with a physical disability in the United States.
History
Adaptive Sports USA has a long and storied history in providing competitive sports opportunities to individuals with a disability. Founded in 1956 as the National Wheelchair Athletic Association, the early years of wheelchair sports were successful in large part due to the efforts of Benjamin Lipton, the Bulova Watch Company and the Bulova School of Watchmaking. Mr. Lipton was the executive director of the Bulova School of Watchmaking and served as the Chairman of NWAA for the first 25 years of its existence. Mr. Lipton ensured the viability of the organization during the early years by making the Bulova Company a primary financial supporter of NWAA. The initial impetus to organize NWAA grew out of the interests of athletes with disabilities - many of whom were veterans of World War II. They wanted to participate in sports other than basketball, a sport that had seen rapid growth in the early 1950s through teams sponsored by veterans hospitals and other rehabilitation agencies. General Omar N. Bradley was one of the leaders of the early efforts to develop wheelchair sports programs, principally for servicemen injured during the war. In the early days, many wheelchair basketball players saw participation in individual wheelchair sports as supplementary training for their primary interest in basketball. However, the NWAA program appealed to even greater numbers of athletes with disabilities due to the incorporation of women and athletes with quadriplegia, populations that could not be easily accommodated by Basketball. Europe's first organized wheelchair sports program was introduced in 1948 by well-known neurosurgeon, Dr. Ludwig Guttman, founder of the Spinal Injury Center in Stoke Mandeville, England.[8] The first Stoke Mandeville Games included only twenty-six participants, and few events (shot put, javelin, club throw, and archery) but growth in both the number of events and participants developed quickly.[9]
In 1952, a team from the Netherlands was invited to compete with the British team. This was the first International Stoke Mandeville Games, an event that is generally recognized as the precursor to the present day Paralympic Games. The focus for NWAA and later, WSUSA, during the first four decades was competitive sports opportunities in the identified "core sports" for individuals utilizing wheelchairs for mobility. Following Mr. Lipton's tenure, the national office of NWAA moved to Colorado Springs, CO in 1982 in an effort to be closer to the National Governing Bodies of the core sports of NWAA recognized by the US Olympic Committee. It was during this time frame that NWAA played a key role in putting competitive sports for athletes with disabilities on the international stage by promoting a series of exhibition events in Wheelchair Track at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
From its earliest beginnings to the present day, Adaptive Sports USA, has been directed and developed by wheelchair athletes and wheelchair sports enthusiasts themselves, individuals with a first-hand understanding to the values of participation. By and large, the needs of the athlete with a disability are not addressed by the vast network of athletic programs available to non-disabled persons through our educational system and community recreation agencies. Instead, the athlete with a disability has, with rare exceptions, developed his or her own resources and sports opportunities, from rules and governing structure (i.e., Adaptive Sports USA) to funding travel, equipment and other expenses of competition. Adaptive sports enthusiasts are involved at all levels of decision-making in the Adaptive Sports USA, and its constituent associations. Adaptive Sports USA, has remained essentially an all-volunteer organization, drawing on the energy and commitment of the people who also benefit from its programs. Adaptive sports have also been described as the most authentic of sports enterprises because the athletes compete and develop their own opportunities for the intrinsic values of participation – and not for the promise of professional contracts or financial reward. The dreams of individual athletes have been made possible through the efforts and dedication of pioneers such as Dr. Guttman and Lipton, and the countless other organizers, volunteers, friends, and supporters of adaptive sports throughout the United States and the rest of the world. With the continuing increase in public awareness, the future of adaptive athletic competition is indeed bright.
In 1994, the organizational name was changed to Wheelchair Sports, USA to more accurately reflect the organization's mission. As a result of several Disabled Sports Organizations (DSO's) dissolving that represented the sporting interests for a specific segment of the disabled population, including organizations representing athletes with Cerebral Palsy and "Les Autres" athletes, Wheelchair Sports, USA found its mission changing dramatically from providing sports opportunities to individuals using wheelchairs to serving as a comprehensive competitive sports organization for all individuals with a disability, both ambulatory and non-ambulatory. As a result, in 2010, the organizational name was changed to Wheelchair & Ambulatory Sports USA and in 2015 to Adaptive Sports USA in an effort to better describe the mission that evolved for the organization. It was also within this time frame that Adaptive Sports USA entered into a formal relationship with the International Wheelchair & Ambulatory Sports Federation (IWAS), an offshoot of the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation. By virtue of this relationship, Adaptive Sports USA found itself with a mechanism for providing quality competitive opportunities for athletes seeking to establish themselves on an international stage. This relationship continues to the present.
Adaptive Sports USA has managed to host the preeminent competitive sports event for junior athletes (6 - 22) with a disability in the United States continuously since 1984. Now known as the Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals (formerly the National Junior Disability Championships [NJDC]), the event has had several titles in its nearly 30 years of existence. The Junior Nationals is a week-long competition including Archery, Powerlifting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Track & Field, and other sporting events.
Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals
Junior Nationals is an avenue for young athletes to showcase their abilities through sport and to promote physical activity and socialization. Additionally, the Championships serve as an opportunity for individuals to advance along the athlete pipeline that may one day lead them to compete at the international level and the Paralympic Games.
Junior Nationals began in 1984 with three sanctioned events for wheelchair athlete's ages 7 to 19 and is now the largest annual multi-sport event for juniors with physical disabilities and/or visual impairments in the United States. Junior Nationals is contested in a different city annually in July. This provides an opportunity for athletes to explore diverse areas of the country, travel costs to remain neutral and allows various Local Hosts the opportunity to gain experience in event management and build a legacy. Below is a history of the host cities:
1984 Dover, Delaware 1985 Fishersville, Virginia 1986 Valley Forge, PA 1987 Lawrenceville, NJ 1988 Johnson City, TN 1989 Cupertino, CA DeAnza College 1990 Fort Collins, CO Colorado State University 1991 Princeton, NJ Princeton University 1992 Orlando, Florida Disney World 1993 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State University 1994 Edmond, Oklahoma Central Oklahoma University 1995 Fort Collins, CO Colorado State University 1996 Birmingham, AL Samford University 1997 Mesa, Arizona Mesa High School 1998 Bellevue, WA 1999 Albuquerque, NM 2000 San Jose, CA San Jose State University 2001 Piscataway, NJ Rutgers University 2002 New London, CT 2003 New London, CT 2004 Mesa, Arizona Mountain View High School 2005 Tampa, Florida 2006 Tampa, Florida 2007 Spokane, WA 2008 Piscataway, NJ Rutgers University 2009 St. Louis, Missouri 2010 Lake Forest, IL 2011 Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw State University 2012 Mesa, Arizona Mesa Community College 2013 Rochester, MN 2014 Ames, IA Iowa State University 2015 Iselin, NJ 2016 Middleton, WI Middleton High School 2017 Middleton, WI Middleton High School 2018 Fort Wayne, IN Turnstone Foundation 2019 Bloomington, MN Eden Prairie High School
Structure
Adaptive Sports USA has three Regions (Western, Central and Eastern) made up of the respective member chapters of Adaptive Sports USA, dividing the United States for the purpose of coordinating, assisting and implementing local & regional meets; sanctioned, qualifying meets; and workshops & clinics for athletes and coaches in order to develop skills and knowledge.[10] Adaptive Sports USA also serves as support and consultation to state high school associations, conferences and schools that desire to provide inclusive opportunities to their student-athletes in the areas of Archery, Powerlifting, Swimming, Table Tennis and Track & Field.
Adaptive Sports USA
Regional Councils (Eastern, Central, Western)
Local Chapters
National Governing Bodies
Track / Field
Sport Technical Committees
Archery Powerlifting Swimming Table Tennis Air Rifle Air Pistol Fencing
Disabled Sports USA
Disabled Sports USA was established in 1967 as the National Amputee Skiers Association; among its founders was Jim Winthers, an amputee soldier who was a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division.[11][12]
Activities
Move United offer numerous nationwide programs for individuals with physical disabilities, including:
Ski Spectacular
Operating annually since 1987, the event is one of the nation's largest winter sports events for people with a disability with more than 700 participants[13] ranging in ability from first-time skiers to members of the US Paralympic Alpine Skiing National Team coming together.[14][15] Participants of all ages participate in snow sports made accessible by adaptive equipment, and certified professionals and volunteers.[16][17] Programs offered at The Hartford Ski Spectacular help strengthen and expand adaptive ski programs in communities throughout the U.S.; identify and train youth, wounded warriors,[18][19][20] and others with disabilities including those who strive to be winter Paralympians; and help local DSUSA chapters improve their services. A week of ski race training, sponsored by US Paralympics, prepares athletes for the Paralympic Games.[citation needed]
Move United Warfighter
Move United Warfighter offers sports rehabilitation programs in military hospitals, including Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center and Naval Medical Center San Diego, and communities across the U.S. through a nationwide network of over 150 community-based chapters. The Move United Warfighter program rebuilds lives through sports by improving self-confidence, promoting independence and uniting families through shared healthy activities.[21]
Move United Warfighters offers more than 50 winter and summer sports at more than 100 events each year, for wounded members of the United States Armed Forces with amputations, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, visual impairments, and significant nerve and muscle damage. In 2013, over 1,500 severely wounded warriors were provided adaptive sports opportunities.[22]
Challenge Magazine
Challenge Magazine, published three times each year for over 10 years, provides over 35,000 subscribers the latest news and articles on sports for people with disabilities.[23]
Harris Poll validates effectiveness of adaptive sports
In 2009, Move United commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct research among American adults with physical disabilities in order to explore the attitudes and behaviors of people with disabilities towards sports and recreation.[24] Specifically, the new research determine that being engaged in sports activities has helped make a difference in terms of increased health, happiness and employment.[25] The major finding of the poll of 1,000 people with disabilities was that "people with disabilities who indicate that they are physically active are more likely to be employed, to believe that being physically active has helped them advance in their jobs, and to lead to a healthier lifestyle. Those physically active report a greater life satisfaction and are more sociable and positive about their life prospects."[26]
Awards
Move United administers three national awards for individuals or organizations who have made significant achievements in disabled sports.
National Disabled Ski Hall of Fame Award
The Disabled Hall of Fame Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to disabled skiing in two categories: Recreational/Developmental and Competition.[27] The award in the Recreational/Development category recognizes an individual who has a minimum of five-years of experience in the disabled skiing field and has made a significant contribution to the field, including innovative techniques, specialized equipment, program development, education or public relations. The award in the Competition category recognizes an individual (participant or coach), who has been active in disabled ski racing for a minimum of three years. Race results, team participation, innovative coaching techniques, and event promotions are considered for this category. Competitive racers and coaches must be retired from active racing or coaching for a minimum of three years prior to nomination.
The Jim Winthers Volunteer Award recognizes life-time contributions and significant achievements in furthering the mission of Move United.[27] Nominees for this award must have contributed a minimum of 10 years of service to Disabled Sports USA or one of its chapters. The Jim Winthers Volunteer Award is named in honor of Jim Winthers, a WWII veteran who was a member of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division- the Skiing 10th— an elite group specifically trained for alpine warfare. He eventually became a pioneer in teaching adaptive skiing, beginning with two friends who became amputees in the war; he taught them to ski on one leg using techniques he was in Europe. Jim Winthers, with the support of other veterans, founded Disabled Sports USA in 1967.
The Dr. Robert Harney Leadership Award is an annual award to honor a company, organization or an individual that has demonstrated and provided extraordinary leadership in the adaptive sports movement. "Dr. Bob" was an adaptive sports pioneer and tireless leader in Paralympic sports at the local, national and international levels. He was an innovator in the national and international medial classification of athletes with disabilities.[27]
As a volunteer, Harney was on the International Paralympic Medical Classification team in the sports of alpine skiing and cycling and attended every winter and summer games since 1998. Dr. Bob was also a Professional Ski Instructor and a full-time practicing orthopedic surgeon in Boston, and a dedicated team physician at Winthrop and Melrose High School in his hometown of Winthrop, Massachusetts for more than 20 years.[27]
Year
Awardee
2018
Lakeshore Foundation
2017
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
2016
Robert "Bob" Meserve
2015
Professional Ski Instructors of America-American Association of Snowboard Instructors
Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing able-bodied sports, while others have been specifically created for persons with a disability and do not have an able-bodied equivalent. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary. At a competitive level, disability sport classifications are applied to allow people of varying abilities to face similar opposition.
The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Games (or IWAS World Games) are a multi-sport competition for athletes with a disability, which were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games. The competition has been formerly known as the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games, the World Wheelchair Games, the International Stoke Mandeville Games, the Stoke Mandeville Games (SMG), and in the 1960s and 1970s was often referred to as the Wheelchair Olympics.
The National Paralympic Games are high-level multi-sport events held at the national level by the International Paralympic Committee and national Paralympic Committees in non-Olympic years. The events provide competitions for disabled athletes.
The Move United Junior Nationals is an annual multi-sport event organized by Move United for junior athletes between the ages of 6 and 22 who have disabilities, with sports including para-athletics.
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are classified in accordance with the nature and severity of their disability or combinations of disabilities. Like running, it can take place on a track or as a road race. The main competitions take place at the Summer Paralympics which wheelchair racing and athletics has been a part of since 1960. Competitors compete in specialized wheelchairs which allow the athletes to reach speeds of 30 km/h (18.6 mph) or more. It is one of the most prominent forms of Paralympic athletics.
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.
T44 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to "Single below knee amputation or an athlete who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs." It includes ISOD A4 and A9 classes.
Disability sports classification is a system that allows for fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.
Amputee sports classification is a disability specific sport classification used for disability sports to facilitate fair competition among people with different types of amputations. This classification was set up by International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), and is currently managed by IWAS who ISOD merged with in 2005. Several sports have sport specific governing bodies managing classification for amputee sportspeople.
Les Autres sport classification is system used in disability sport for people with locomotor disabilities not included in other classification systems for people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this system is to facilitate fair competition between people with different types of disabilities, and to give credibility to disability sports. It was designed and managed by International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) until the 2005 merger with IWAS, when management switched to that organization. Classification is handled on the national level by relevant sport organizations.
LA1 is a Les Autres sport classification is an wheelchair sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class have severe locomotor issues with all four limbs as a result of loss of muscle strength or spasticity. This also impacts their dominant throwing arm. They also have poor sitting balance.
LA2 is a Les Autres sport classification is an wheelchair sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class have severe locomotor issues with all four limbs as a result of loss of muscle strength or spasticity to a lesser degree than LAF1 or have severe locomotor issues in three of their limbs. They have moderate sitting balance, but good sitting balance while throwing.
LA3 is a Les Autres sport classification is a wheelchair sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class have normal trunk function, good sitting balance, and functional upper limbs. They have limited use of their lower limbs.
LA4 is a Les Autres sport classification is an ambulatory sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class may or may not uses crutches and/or braces on a daily basis. They have some issues with balance and reduced function in their upper limbs.
LA5 is a Les Autres sport classification is an ambulatory sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class have normal upper limb functionality, but have problems with balance or use of their lower limbs. Generally, limb problems are confined to one limb.
LA6 is a Les Autres sport classification is an ambulatory sport classification for a sportsperson with a disability that impacts their locomotor function. People in this class have a minimal locomotor disability that tends to impact one of their upper limbs or knees. The class includes people with arthritis and osteoporosis, or ankylosis of the knee.
Wheelchair sport classification is a system designed to allow fair competition between people of different disabilities, and minimize the impact of a person's specific disability on the outcome of a competition. Wheelchair sports is associated with spinal cord injuries, and includes a number of different types of disabilities including paraplegia, quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome and spina bifida. The disability must meet minimal body function impairment requirements. Wheelchair sport and sport for people with spinal cord injuries is often based on the location of lesions on the spinal cord and their association with physical disability and functionality.
SS1 is a Les Autres sport classification is an ambulatory class for people with short stature. Eligible males have a standing height and arm length that added together are equal to or less than 180 centimetres (71 in). Eligible female have a standing height and arm length that added together are equal to or less than 173 centimetres (68 in).
Adaptive Standing Tennis is a form of tennis for individuals with physical disability who play the sport of tennis standing, or ambulatory as opposed to their counterparts who play wheelchair tennis, playing tennis in a wheelchair.
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