December 2025 E-newsletter
Executive Director's Message: Is it December Already?
Wow! What happened to 2025? This has been a very busy year and has passed by so quickly. As we ease out of 2025, I want to give a Super Big THANK YOU to all the participants, organizations, volunteers, donors, sponsors, performers, and supporters, that made this such a fun and successful year! There is no way we would be able to provide all the activities, services, and opportunities we do without all of you.
Fall Wrap-up
Miracle Sports Kickball: Despite having to cancel the opening day of kickball, it turned out to be a fantastic season! In October we went “Trick or Treating” around the bases and in November we enjoyed a fantastic Seminole Showdown! DJ Sam provided the tunes; Jeremy Countryman was an awesome emcee. The FSU Cheerleaders and Dance Squad, and athletes from FSU’s Women’s Lacrosse Team encouraged and cheered on our athletes. Miracle Sports Moose and Cimmaron greeted everyone and had their pictures taken. And the Seminole Sound performance got us all moving to the beat! F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E! Florida State, Florida State, Florida State! Whooo!
Thank you also to the volunteers who came out each week; to our fantastic coaches—Bruno, Kyeli, and Breckon; to our awesome interns—Aryianna and Angelina; and, of course to the wonderful and supportive Kawanis Clubs. We appreciate each and every one of you!
  
Big Kahuna
The Big Kahuna held November 16 at Maclay Gardens was a huge success! Thank you to our Big Kahuna Boat Sponsors:
- Bradfordville Kiwanis Club
- Capital City Kiwanis Club
- Killearn Kiwanis Club
- North Florida Christian Baseball Team
- Tallahassee Northside Kiwanis Club
- Virtual Kiwanis of the Big Bend
- Wilson Family Medicine
Congratulations to the race winner: Tallahassee Northside Kiwanis Club!
Thank you to the many individuals who came out to row, volunteer and provide support and encouragement. We could not hold this event without you! Please see the blog post from SportsAbility Alliance Intern Ariyanna Ellison for a more in-depth recap of the Big Kahuna event and all the people who made it possible.
Here comes 2026!
As we say goodbye to 2025, it’s time to start looking ahead to next year. As always, it is going to be a very busy Spring! Be sure to Mark Your Calendars with our event dates and visit SportsAbility.org for more information and to register.
Baseball at Miracle Field—the first pitch is scheduled for January 22, 2026 at Miracle Field in Tallahassee. Miracle Sports Baseball meets every Thursday night from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm and will run January 22, 2026—April 2, 2026 (no game will be held March 19 due to Spring Break). Visit the SportsAbility website for more information. Please come join us!
Fitness Fridays—We are pleased to announce that our Fitness Friday workouts will continue throughout 2026. Our Fitness Friday workout partner--Spirt Club—will offer workouts at 11:00 am Eastern Time on Facebook live through the SportsAbility Alliance Facebook page. Don’t worry if you miss one—the workout is available all week on demand. Workouts include adaptive options so individuals of all ages and abilities can participate. Check it out!
SportsAbility 2026 is scheduled for April 17 at Tallahassee State College and April 18 at Maclay Gardens State Park. We will be sending out additional information in the new year, so keep an eye out for more details.
Outreach Events—SportsAbility receives many invitations to participate in Expos, trainings, discussions, and other events. While we cannot accept them all, here are some of the upcoming outreach programs we will be attending this Jan-March 2026. We hope you will come by and see us if you can.
Have a Wonderful Holiday Season!
Fran Gilbert
Executive Director, SportsAbility Alliance
 Fodder from the Founder: David Jones
Fall and winter finally seems to be getting here. This is a highly anticipated time of the year for outdoor enthusiasts here in Florida. Hiking and trails, fishing and hunting, birding and beaching and many other activities are actively pursued during this perfect time of the year. These healthy and beneficial recreational and leisure endeavors are enjoyed by residents and also by our many visitors. SportsAbility Alliance was founded as an outdoor recreation and inclusion education and support organization. Today and for the past thirty-five plus years we remain a strong advocate for conservation and outdoor recreation.
In fact, we actually spend a lot of our time and resources on our engagement in outreach and advocacy efforts. We have, since day one back in 1990, been very actively collaborating with many other organizations to help support their programs and events. We have built relationships and partnerships with NGO organizations, agencies and businesses to help them with their different advocacy and inclusion efforts. We believe that everyone benefits when we help people understand the needs and benefits of participating in inclusive recreation and active leisure.
 With our common objectives and joint efforts, we make a difference in the quality of life of many. We have been helping lots of people of all ages and abilities with our SportsAbility programs. We have reached and affected way more by our philosophy of not just helping people, but by “helping people to help people”. We have not done a good job of sharing with you and others of the work that we put in to do just that. We have always tried to support every outreach opportunity that we can to help in all of the fields of disability, health, rehab, recreation, conservation, tourism, sports, education, arts, crafts, music, employment, and others that we can align with to benefit all.
We will be adding Outreach and Advocacy to our list of programs and will be reporting on some of the activities that we are involved with. We are open and receptive to invitations from other like-minded organizations for us to collaborate with and we certainly want to welcome others to join us in our efforts. Watch for more and let's see what we can do to enhance the lives of people with disabilities with our outreach and advocacy efforts.
ACTIVE LEISURE for LIFE!
David Jones
Founder, SportsAbility Alliance
Events
Miracle Sports - Baseball
Join us for baseball this spring out at Miracle Field at Messer Park in Tallahassee. We play Thursday evenings starting January 22 through April 2. We have a fun filled season planned, with events including the Seminole Showdown on April 2! Everyone is welcome to play. No prior experience is necessary. All Ages & All Abilities!
This is the continuation of the 2025-2026 season, so if you already registered for kickball, you don't need to register again for baseball!
Date(s): Thursday evenings, January 22 - April 2
Location: Miracle Field at Messer Park (Field #3 1158-1172 Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304)
SportsAbility Events
- ALLOUT EcoRover Adventures - dates available for mobility impaired hunts (FWC quota permit required), trail rides and beach adventures throughout the year around Florida!
- Miracle Sports Basbell- Thursday evenings, January 22 - April 2. Youth play 6pm-7pm, Adults play 7pm-8pm.
- SportsAbility 2026 - Save the Date: April 17-18, 2026! Our FREE 2 Day SportsAbility event is back in 2026. More information and details coming soon!
Making Waves: Tallahassee Northside Kiwanis Paddles to Victory in SportsAbility Alliance's 2025 Big Kahuna Fundraiser Event
This blog post was written by Ariyanna Ellison, SportsAbility Alliance
Sports Management Intern.
This year’s Big Kahuna Event delivered another unforgettable day on water as teams paddled with passion, purpose and competitive energy! Under clear skies at Maclay Gardens State Park, the annual SportsAbility Alliance Big Kahuna fundraiser event brought together sponsors, participants and supporters for fun-filled outdoor leisure.
The atmosphere was full of excitement as participants anxiously lined up for the voyager style canoe race, an annual tradition that continues to bring supporters of SportsAbility Alliance together year after year. When the final splashes settled, Tallahassee Northside Kiwanis emerged as victors in a thrilling finish against the reigning champions, North Florida Christian High School Baseball team! With strong coordination and steady strokes, they powered through the course and earned a well-deserved win.
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