NEWSLETTER

September 2024

Executive Director's Message

Time to “FALL” into Outdoor Fun with SportsAbility

Miracle Sports 2024/2025 Season Kicks Off!
Fall is almost here--although the still-high temperatures make it hard to believe. But Fall will be here before we know it (I promise) and that means it’s time for Miracle Sports Kickball!
It’s time to register for the 2024/2025 Miracle Sports Season. Remember, even if you registered and played in 2024, you need to register for the new season which includes, Kickball (Fall), Baseball (Spring), and Tennis (Summer). Click here to register for the 2024/25 Season.

Kickball Information:
Dates: Thursday Nights from September 5 to November 14, 2024
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 36th 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 28, 2024
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. Last day to register is September 18! 

Join us for a great day on the water!

Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna is a fundraising event for SportsAbility Alliance to support inclusive and accessible recreation and wellness programs for people of all ages and abilities. It is a fun, team building event that is sure to include a ton of laughs. Your friends, club, co-workers are all welcome to join in while supporting an excellent cause.

Date: October 6, 2024
Location: Lake Hall at Alfred B. Maclay Gardens (3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, FL 32309)
Entry Fee: $500/team (10-14 people per team)
Race Time: 2:00 pm to approximately 4:00 pm
Practice Time: 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm If teams would like to come out and practice, they may do so between these hours. Teams that are able to paddle in unison and work together will be most successful.
Crew: 10-14 people are considered a crew. Crews can be made up of clubs, coworkers, or groups of friends! Volunteers will be on hand to complete your boat if you do not have enough team members. 
Click here for more information and to register.
Get a team together and come join us! 

Miracle Sports Tennis—Wrap-up 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Miracle Sports Tennis in July. We had a great turn out and a great time!  

We appreciate George English with USTA for facilitating the fun. We love our partnership with USTA-Florida and George! A very special thank you to Holy Comforter Episcopal School for allowing us to use their gym 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! Sam Pate, photographer extraordinaire, was there with his cameras—snapping pics and playing the role of our very own paparazzi! And of course, we so appreciate our intern Alex Shaw, as well as the volunteers and family members who came and pitched in playing tennis, chasing runaway balls, and making sure the athletes had fun. We couldn’t do it without you!  

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

Fodder from the Founder

Early this morning I walked outside to enjoy my first cup of coffee. I was greeted by a nice brisk breeze out of the north. It was not a cool breeze but was a lot less
humid. A change. A reminder that seasons come and seasons go. This constant change of seasons is just not the weather, but for outdoor recreation enthusiasts, this is a highly anticipated inspiration for hope.

That is what our ALLOUT EcoRover Adventure Program is really about. Hope for recreating fun and enjoyment in the outdoors. Hope for opportunity. It is a time of anticipating good things to come. For many of us, the coming of fall signals a new hunting season on the near horizon.

Thanks to the generosity and support of the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida (FWFF) we are able to offer opportunities and anticipation of enjoyable experiences by sharing the use of our EcoRovers. We are offering them at several of the state’s mobility impaired hunts. They are available to reserve for several of the Holton Creek/Suwanee Ridge hunts, the Plank Road hunt, and the St. Marks NWR hunt.

New this year is the addition of Ecofina Creek and Blackwater Huton Unit to our offerings. These additional opportunities are made possible by a donation of two new EcoRovers from Florida Power and Light Corporation (FPL). This will allow us to provide people in the Northwest Florida region an enhanced outdoor experience using these all-terrain mobility devices.

Visit the ALLOUT page on our website for more information about the ALLOUT mobility impaired EcoRover program. Reservations must be made in advance online, and it is a first come first serve basis.

ACTIVE LEISURE for LIFE! 

David Jones
Founder, SportsAbility Alliance

Events

Miracle Sports Kickball Event Image

Miracle Sports - Kickball

Join us for kickball this fall out at Miracle Field in Tallahassee.

We play Thursday evenings starting September 5 - November 14, but there's no game on Halloween (October 31). 

Everyone is welcome to play. No prior experience is necessary. All Ages & All Abilities!

This is a NEW season of Miracle Sports, so everyone needs to register! 

Date(s): Thursdays, Sept 5 - Nov 14, 2024

Location:  Miracle Field at Messer Park (Field #3 1158-1172 Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304) 

SportsAbility Expo - experience recreation and active leisure

SportsAbility Events

  • ALLOUT EcoRover Adventures - dates available for trail rides and beach adventures throughout the year around Florida! 
  • Miracle Sports Kickball- Thursday evenings, September 5 - November 14. Youth play 6pm-7pm, Adults play 7pm-8pm.
  • Hands Helping Anglers - 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 out on the water! This event takes place on September 28, angler registration closes on September 18th. 
  • The Big Kahuna - Sunday, October 6 from 12-4pm. Join us at Maclay Gardens for our annual Big Kahuna fundraising event. EVERYONE is invited to have a team in the race. Your friends, club, co-workers are all welcome to join in while supporting an excellent cause.

Location: Tallahassee, across Florida and online

Articles

Esther Vergeer: A Paralympic Legend

This blog post was written by SportsAbility Alliance Sports Management Spring 2024 Intern, Hannah Moret.

Regarding sports legends, few can match the achievements of former Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer. She dominated the sport for over a decade, winning 470 consecutive matches and seven Paralympic gold medals.

Vergeer was born on July 18, 1981 in Woerden, Netherlands. At the age of 8, she was diagnosed with Vascular Myelopathy, a condition which left her paralyzed from the waist down. Despite her physical limitations, Vergeer developed a passion for sports, particularly wheelchair basketball and tennis.

Resources

Information for People with a Spinal Cord Injury

Information for People with a Brain Injury

SportsAbility Alliance

(formerly Florida Disabled Outdoors Association)
3035 Eliza Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308

+1 (850) 201-2944  |  [email protected]

sportsability.org

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