Move United Member Newsletter | FEB 2021
In This Issue:
  • MOVE UNITED SANCTIONED COMPETITIONS
  • NOMINATE WARFIGHTER AMBASSADORS
  • PREPARED4ALL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
  • MOVE UNITED SNOWBOARD WEBINAR SERIES
  • VIRTUAL INCLUSIVE FITNESS TRAINING
  • EDUCATION CALENDAR
  • MEET CAYLA HAMMAKER
The Rundown:
Introducing the Move United 2021 Sanctioned Competitions Calendar
The Move United Sanctioned Competitions calendar includes over 20 single- or multi-sport events taking place around the U.S. Annually, the competitions collectively serve over 1,800 youth and adults with a physical, visual, and/or intellectual impairment and offer competition in Paralympic-style summer sports.

The Sanctioned Competitions offer competitive opportunities to athletes along the pipeline from grassroots, recreational level athletes up to elite level athletes competing on the world’s stage.

These competitions, offered through Move United and the Move United membership network, serve as qualifiers and training opportunities for national competitions including the Move United Junior Nationals and the Adaptive Track and Field USA Adult Open.
 
*All events will have a COVID plan in place and are subject to change or cancellation.
Seated Shot Put Athlete at competition
RETHINK ABILITY
IN THE NEWS
Move United Warfighters:
Call for Ambassadors
Move United is seeking qualified candidates to become Warfighter Ambassadors. Ambassadors leverage their own experiences to engage other veterans with disabilities in adaptive sports. We'd love to hear from YOU if there is anyone in your program who fits the bill!

Candidates must be qualified participants of Move United Warfighters, be an active member of their community, and be willing to be a representative of Move United.

To find out more and meet the current Ambassadors, visit the Move United Warfighters Ambassador Profile page.

Handcyclist mountain biking
Prepared4All:
Emergency Management Planning
Having a detailed emergency management plan that addresses the needs of people with disabilities is critical to prevent our communities from being left behind during a potential disaster situation. Such situations can affect our athletes at our events or at home.

Move United has joined AUCD’s Prepared4ALL committee to advocate for disabled needs and gather resources for creating emergency management plans.
Prepared4All Logo
Future of Chairlifts:
A Call to Action by Peter Axelson
The liability of keeping skiers on lifts is radically changing the design of chairlifts to resemble amusement park ride seating. Seats with crotch pins and dividers between them prevent escape from the chair and access for sit-skiers is not feasible.

The solution? Require a percentage of chairs with a more traditional design. We have an opportunity to determine the configuration of the perfect universal access chairlift. We need programs to quickly tell us what chair designs work best and why. Please follow this link to complete at least one feedback form on your best and worst chairlift.

Peter Axelson in a monoski loading onto a chairlift.
GET IN THE GAME
UPCOMING EVENTS
Building an Elite Snowboard Race Program
February 24 | 2-3 PM EST
Join Move United to learn about how to take individual athletes or your entire program from a recreational to competitive program. Tune in to hear how Kep Koeppe and Reggie Showers work with beginner, intermediate, and elite athletes to help them compete and what programmatic considerations and changes you can make to help elevate your snowboarding program!
Virtual Inclusive Fitness Training
March 30 & 31 | 12 - 4 PM EST
Hosted by: National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)
Join NCHPAD for a two-day virtual workshop covering the basics of inclusive fitness. This event will include everything from disability education, fitness programming, specific disability types and more. This training will also address access and inclusion for people with a disability during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Athlete with above knee amputation walking on treadmill.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
MEMBER MONDAYS
Have any big news?
A successful shift to virtual?
Happy thought to share?
Fill out this Member Spotlight form to be featured in the upcoming weeks on Move United social media. Check out our post on Midwest Adaptive from last week.
MEMBER
UPDATES
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Platinum - Chapter Members:

Gold- Adaptive Clubs:
Palms to Pines Parasports (Palm Springs CA)

Bronze - Event Partner
GOAL ACHIEVED!
We are thrilled to announce the following organizations will be receiving a $500 grant incentive for being the top organizations to share the research survey on the impact of sport on individuals with disabilities with their network(s). Over 1,000 surveys were distributed in total, and we appreciate ALL the support that made that possible!

Top 5:

  1. Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (CA)
  2. Achieve Tahoe (CA)
  3. Northeast Passage (NH)
  4. ACCESS of Wilmington (NC)
  5. Pennsylvania Center for Adaptive Sports (PA)
MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
Adaptive Adventures (Lakewood CO & Franklin Park IL)
Adaptive Adventures has launched "Introduccion a los deportes adaptativos", introducing adaptive sports in Spanish. The program is a part of a new series focusing on delivering Spanish content to our community.

GallopNYC (New York NY)
Although the pandemic has created some challenges in programming at GallopNYC, they are very excited to share one of their innovative successes: the GallopNYC Leadership Program, which uses horseback riding, horse care, and barn management to instill lessons on leadership, responsibility, teamwork, communication, self-advocacy, and empathy.
BENEFIT
SPOTLIGHT
EDUCATION CALENDAR
Move United Education opportunities enable adaptive sports providers to deliver improved program services to their communities. Move United offers organizations within our member network free or reduced cost education, development and networking events. A variety of conferences and training opportunities are offered by Move United and our members each year.

The Education calendar includes sport specific and administrative/operations focused programs.

Check out the "To Be Announced" section to see what's in store!
MEET MOVE UNITED
Cayla Hammaker
Training and Education Program Specialist
Cayla joined the Move United team in 2018 as a Program Specialist. Cayla supports Move United’s education initiatives through events such as the annual Move United Education Conference, PSIA-AASI National Adaptive Academy, and various other projects that provide education opportunities for adaptive sport providers.

While obtaining her B.S. in Exercise and Movement Science at University of Vermont, Cayla completed an internship with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. Prior to joining Move United, Cayla worked for Spaulding Rehab Hospital’s adaptive sports program in Boston, MA.

Cayla currently has her PSIA Adaptive Alpine Level I Certification and in her free time enjoys skiing, traveling, running with her dog, and seeking new adventures.
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Need more info? Contact kdavis@moveunitedsport.org or visit moveunitedsport.org