Winter is a True Wonderland for Athletes with Disabilities (Excerpted from USA Today, February 22, 2009) An increasing number of adaptive winter sports programs, including sled hockey and skiing, offer people with physical disabilities more independence and improved fitness. Mike Doyle, 53, who lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident when he was 20, has spent the past decade establishing a sled hockey team in the Philadelphia area. The team now boasts a roster of "20 players who practice three hours a week and travel to hockey venues along the East Coast to compete against other teams in the Northeast Sled Hockey League." For someone in a wheelchair or with prosthetics, winter or snow is not a friend, says Jenny Walsh, sports and recreation program coordinator at the Courage Center in Minneapolis, which runs five adaptive snow sports programs. But skiing changes that. "It brings freedom and dignity," she says. Adaptive winter programs offer sports even for the most severely injured athletes, such as John Chang, 41, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a surfing accident at 19. Chang has been skiing the past few years with a bi-ski, a bucket seat that sits atop two skis connected to outriggers with ski tips. It is tethered to another skier who helps with slowing when needed. He can lean to control direction. For more on the story, please go to http://snipurl.com/cr6it
