Mike Rosenkrantz interview with Gene Nichols describing January 2024 Programs

Mike's interview with Gene talking about Sports for everyBODY and our adapted sports fair on April 22, 2023

Salton Sea Prayer Vigil October 10, 2022

April is the Therapeutic Recreation Specialist for the City of Reno, Nevada and has established a sled hockey and many other adapted  programs.  

Kyra is a multiple sport athlete and has dreams of opening a coffee shop.  Her mom Kendra, her dad who passed away five years ago, and her other family members have been huge supports in helping Kyra to thrive.

Founder & Executive Dir. of AllPlay Miracle Baseball League. Commissioner of National Wheelchair Softball Association 

Teal Guion was there when the First Tee of the Coachella Valley began in 2008 and is now the Executive Director.  Gemma is Teal's daughter who plays adaptive golf and soccer!  

Jeremy "Opie" Lade (born January 6, 1981)[1] is an American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player and head coach from Oconto, Wisconsin. He was injured in a car accident at age 8, and attended his first wheelchair sports camp at the age of 13 at UW-Whitewater. He is a two-time Paralympian American Games gold medalist in both 2007 and 2011. In 2002, he won a gold medal at IWBF World Championship and in 2006 won a silver one from the same place. Six years later, he was awarded a bronze medal for his participation at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and is currently employed as a head coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.[2] From 2005 to 2008 he coached Milwaukee Wizards and led them to a Junior National Championship. In his spare time he likes to watch Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Milwaukee Brewers with Michael Jordan being his favorite athlete.  https://rollt-magazin.de/interview-with-jeremy-opie-lade-make-your-decisions-based-on-what-is-best-for-the-team/ https://www.uww.edu/aaec/welcome/advisors/opie-lade

Dee has dedicated her life to coaching wheelchair tennis.  She is a tennis coach at Biola University and has been an inspiration to so many athletes.  

Keith Wallace is the Executive Director of Lincolnway Special Recreation Association  providing adaptive sports in Illinois.  Keith has also done adaptive sports missionary work in Nairobi, Kenya.

JACQUI WOODS KAPINOWSKI is the President of Shifting Gears United Inc. and the Director, Freedom Team Kayak Program Coach/Mentor jacqui@shiftinggearsunited.org | 732-236-3576 Jacqui is a two time Paralympian for Team USA in the winter and summer games. Nine World Champions in four sports, curling, triathlon, wheelchair racing, and rowing. Jacqui Kapinowski has been an avid runner and athlete most of her life. She has completed 90 marathons, 19 as a runner and 71 in her racing chair and handcycle. In her early twenties, Jacqui was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and then again five years later. This left her with a rare progressive disease that affects 1 in 1 million with no cure called “ Stiff Person Syndrome” and also a cancer survivor. Jacqui founded SGU on September 11, 2019 in an effort to change lives one at a time. SGU’s mission and purpose is to provide adapted sports to wounded veterans, first responders and the physically challenged community.   Empower, educate and enable this disable community to train and participate in mainstream sports, as well as achieving and teaching their personal goals. Inspire valves of respect, fairness, honestly, community of inclusion and acceptance, self confidence and camaraderie. It is a perfect fit!   

Lori is the author of: A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games.  Telling the inspiring human story behind the creation of the Paralympics, this young readers biography artfully combines archival photos, full-color illustrations, and a riveting narrative to honor the life of Ludwig Guttmann, whose work profoundly changed so many lives.   Dedicating his life to helping patients labeled “incurables,” Ludwig Guttmann fought for the rights of paraplegics to live a full life. The young doctor believed—and eventually proved—that physical movement is key to healing, a discovery that led him to create the first Paralympic Games.   Told with moving text and lively illustrations, and featuring the life stories of athletes from the Paralympic Games Ludwig helped create, this story of the man who saved lives through sports will inspire readers of all backgrounds. 

Meg McCall is also an outdoor enthusiast who loves to hike and partake in any activity associated with water. She spent the first decade of her career in the non-profit sector, with a focus on supporting with people with cognitive and physical disabilities. For the last 15 years, she has worked as a marketing executive for software and technology companies in both the public and private sectors.   Meg, who happens to be Jim's daughter, knew a good thing when she first saw his paddle, so in 2012 the two partnered together to distribute it to the public. (The apple didn't fall far from the tree, you see!) They worked to fine-tune the design, patent it and manufacture it. Meg continues to head up the business side of Angle Oar LLC.  

David Davis-Author of Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation.  

Elayne is an aspiring disability advocate in the Dallas/Fort Worth area whose passionate about using multiple platforms and methods to educate people about disability access and inclusion; and health disparities affecting rural, disabled, and other vulnerable or marginalized communities.  

Currently, Elayne is the communications and member engagement coordinator for the Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports, and she previously worked as a production/executive assistant for the independent film “Invalid Corps” in charge of out reach, social media tool kits and pitch decks. Recently was given the privilege of participating in Lights, Camera, Access as an artist with a disability, and had my work featured in the National Disability Employment Awareness Month campaign with her good friend, Lydia X. Z. Brown.  

Elayne holds a graduate certificate in disability policy through Loyola Law School, and a bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of Texas at Arlington. As an undergraduate student, she served for two years as the Office for Disability Services’ representative to the President’s Diversity Roundtable, and led a community health education project on HPV prevention. In her personal life, she owns two Maine Coon rescue cats and is an urban fantasy/sci-fi writer.

Jason Allen has been involved with tennis throughout his entire life, starting with his first job as an assistant tennis pro at a country club in the early1990s at the age of 15.

In October 2016, he was hired as manager for wheelchair tennis, a position based at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. In his current role, he oversees wheelchair tennis across the country, managing tournaments, grass-roots initiatives, camps and coaching-development workshops, among other responsibilities.

Allen is also involved with the professional side of wheelchair tennis, as highlighted by his role as team leader with Team USA. In that administrative role, he oversees the logistics of tournaments for American players and coaches and also coordinates with the ITF, USOC and IPC. He will once again take on that responsibility at the World Team Cup.

Allen’s work also extends to on-court coaching. He helped start a weekly wheelchair tennis program at the National Campus, which has grown from one to 16 participants, and also runs several week-long all-comers camps throughout the year. Allen also helped launch the Net Generation wheelchair tennis initiative after extensive work adapting the able-bodied Net Gen curriculum for wheelchair athletes.

Allen’s unique career path also includes seven years in education, as a Spanish teacher and a principal. He left that field in 2016 to take on his  full-time role with the USTA.

Rich O’Brien is an adaptive golf instructor who works with advanced and disabled golfers, using golf as therapy.  Rich has over 30 years of experience, but he also has his own harrowing narrative about traumatic brain injury and how golf, amongst other factors, helped him in his healing process.   

http://www.bcepilepsy.com/blog/rich-tbi-recovery 

https://sportsprosconnect.com/richobrien/ 

https://www.facebook.com/richobriengolf/

Dave and Jaime are part of Blind Stokers Club of San Diego

Lisa is the President of the NWBA Junior Division.  She stared a non-profit adaptive sport organization in Mississippi and her son Jonathan is a wheelchair basketball athlete.

Dave is on the Executive Committee of the Juniors Division of the NWBA.  His daughter Ruby had a rare form of cancer resulting in paralysis.  She is a mover and shaker and plays for the University of Illinois.