Miracle Sports 2023/2024 Season Kicks Off!

Wow! Where did the summer go? It’s hard to believe school has begun and Fall will be here before you know it. And you know what that means—Miracle Sports Kickball!

It is time to register for the 2023/2024 Miracle Sports Season. Remember, even if you registered and played in 2023, you need to register for the new season which includes, Kickball (Fall), Baseball (Spring), and Tennis (Summer). Click here to register for the 2023/24 Season.

Kickball Information:
Dates: Thursday Nights from September 7 to November 16, 2023
Times: Youth 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm / Adults 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location:  Miracle Field at Messer Park (Field #3 1158-1172 Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304)

We hope you will join us at Miracle Field!

Hands Helping Anglers
This will be our 33rd Hands Helping Anglers event, in partnership with Rotary Clubs and Shield's Marina. Hands Helping Anglers is a program to take people with disabilities out to experience boat fishing. Food, beverages, and bait will be provided for an awesome day on the water.

Date: September 30, 2023
Location: most boats will leave out of Saint Marks, FL, but some will leave from other areas (depending on the boat captain).
Additional information and Registration:  Click here for more information and to register. 
Pre-registration is required. Space is limited. Anglers are selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Join us for a great day on the water!

Miracle Sports Tennis—Wrap-up

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Miracle Sports Tennis in July. We had a great turn out; more than 30 people participated each night. We had a great time—Wimbledon has nothing on us!  

We appreciate George English with USTA for facilitating the fun. A very special thank you to the staff of the Lawrence-Gregory Community Center at Dade Street for all their help, smiles and patience, and for making us feel so welcome. You Rock!  Our wonderful friends from the Kiwanis Clubs of the Big Bend provided support and the yummy snacks—thank you! And of course, we so appreciate the volunteers who came and pitched in playing tennis, chasing runaway balls, and making sure the athletes had fun. We couldn’t do it without you!  

On a personal note, I want to thank our interns—Madeline and Cameron who jumped right in and handled the chaotic fun so well.   If you didn’t meet Madeline and Cameron this summer, they will be joining us again this fall at kickball. 

Check out the tennis photos from our wonderful volunteer photographer—Sam Pate—on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

 
Fall is a Time for Outdoor Fun!
As the seasons change from the heat of summer to the (hopefully) coolness of fall, this is the perfect time to get outside and stay active.  Visit our website for all of our activities and programs.  We look forward to seeing you soon! 

Stay well friends!
Fran Gilbert
Executive Director, SportsAbility Alliance

It's hard to believe that Fall is just around the corner. I hope that the extreme summer temperatures will fall along with the calendar dates for the season change. It has been mighty hard to stay active in this heat and humidity. It can actually be very dangerous. It is very important to plan our activities in advance. Proper hydration, limiting the duration of exposure, utilizing shade when possible and also choosing the best clothing, hat, sunglasses, and  sunscreen are all important things to think about before you set out.

The outdoor recreation experience has always been and will continue to include a basic man vs nature element to the challenges of participating in our activity of choice. Along with the pure joy of the activity comes many physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. We need to plan for a strategy to adjust, adapt and improvise to overcome the conditions and barriers that may be faced for a safe and enjoyable experience.  Success in following the plan and completing the adventure is part of the reward of the achievement. The feeling of accomplishment builds our self-esteem and the motivation for more.

Whether it's a sub-freezing mountain climb or a 100-degree beach or trail adventure, we all benefit from our outdoor experiences. We just need to be smart and safe.

We are continuing our ALLOUT EcoRover Beach and Trail Adventures with more scheduled trips in the Tallahassee and North Florida area. They are being posted on our website and we will continue to add more as opportunities arise. These outings are made possible at no cost for people with any paralysis, by way of a grant awarded to us by the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation. We also have the same  EcoRover opportunities provided from a Move United/ VA grant for veterans with any disability. Custom group outings may be possible by contacting me for a discussion and exploring for collaborative opportunities.

We are offering EcoRovers at several of the Fish and Wildlife Mobility impaired hunts this season that start in mid-October at different locations in the North Florida area. They will also be reserved by our online pre-registration system. This ALLout Adventure program is offered at no cost by way of a Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida grant.  This and other projects and programs are supported by the sale of the “deer” tag. It is funded by an option for your vehicle license plate renewal that supports conservation, hunting, and the shooting sports. You can help and show your support with a purchase of a tag for your vehicle.

I will be delivering and sharing EcoRover units at the Mobility Impaired pre-hunt meetings for several of the listed and limited opportunities on our web site reservation system. Check for availability on your FWC MI quota hunts for this season. We are continuing to work toward our goals to make these functional, dependable and more affordable all terrain devices available for more people with limited mobilities. Although this is a recreational wheelchair by ADA definition, it is not just for people who use chairs but also an appropriate and valuable tool for people with other mobility limitations that include pain, fatigue and balance issues.

Let's plan to meet on a beach, on a trail, or on a hunt this fall.

ACTIVE LEISURE for LIFE! 
David Jones
Founder, SportsAbility Alliance

This month's blog article was written by our Summer 2023 Sports Management Intern, Madeline Mancini. 

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