Letter from the Founder

"Thank you for giving us the chance to hold onto the wind."
             —Rob Goode, one of our athletes.

For us, in many ways, this describes AccesSportAmerica. Aside from providing fun for people with disabilities and their families, we challenge participants to achieve greater personal, physical, cognitive and emotional function than ever imagined.

Almost 20 years ago, we began with adapting and teaching the sport of windsurfing for people with disabilities.

Today, we offer:

• Kayaking
• Rowing/sculling
• Water-skiing
• Kite sailing
• Adaptive Cycling
• Adaptive Soccer
• Function and Fitness programs

These are all sports that are often perceived as "elite sports". The effect on students, friends and family is incredible. An hour of windsurfing develops great feats of control, greater range of motion and strength, while conquering doubts and fear. People with quadriplegia often reach and grasp with newfound abilities because of the opportunity to hold the wind using one of our special seats or standers. Repetitive rowing movements elicit movement from partially paralyzed rowers in our adaptive tandem-sculling rig. Students with cognitive or attention challenges keenly stay on task holding to a windsurf sail or water-ski handle. Our sports inspire unimagined function in people living with almost any disability. Once off the water, we encourage year-round training to capitalize on new found capabilities and strengths. Some train on their own while others train with our AccesSportAmerica training staff. Backed by medical rehabilitation physicians, therapists and fitness professionals, we offer programs that include weight training, water therapy, aerobic activity and muscle stimulation. The effect is tremendous. At AccesSportAmerica, we believe that we are all much more capable and able than we ever imagined.

Ross Lilley
Executive Director and Founder