PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – The Mittleman Community Center in Southwest Portland hosted Adaptive Sports Northwest's community-building fundraiser “Get in the Game” on Saturday.
Adaptive Sports Northwest has been supporting the active participation of children and adults with physical and visual impairments for over 40 years, and tonight was a great opportunity to attend the game.
Evita Rush is an ASNW athlete.
“Being in this community and being around like-minded people and people who share lived experiences is what makes nights like this beautiful,” Rush said.
From wheelchair basketball to sitting volleyball, power soccer and pickleball, track and field, swimming, and goalball. They were all on display for anyone to try out and learn how to try a new sport.
Jen Armbruster is the executive director of Adaptive Sports Northwest and a four-time Paralympic medalist with the U.S. goalball team.
“We're up almost 33% from last year, which is great. We're now above our pre-COVID numbers, so we're back to where we were and then a little bit more,” Armbruster said. he said. “Adaptive sports opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming a competitive athlete. It gave me an outlet to lose my eyesight and still be the athlete I wanted to be.”
ASNW's goal is to support the development of confidence, sociability, and independence through connection and inspiration.
Griffin Barlow is also an ASNW athlete.
“[We’re] We're just average people, and basically we're just people trying to survive and make friends and get love and support,'' Barlow said.
“They don't see us as different, they see us just like everyone else,” Zoraya Barlow said.
Adaptive Sports Northwest offers clinics and practices for recreational play, as well as tournaments for advanced players.
“I definitely encourage people to do that,” Katie Alford said. “It must be scary, I was scared when I first started. But I'm happy. I'm more than grateful. A long time ago, I needed to do some activity, and it was my parents who actually forced me to do it.” ”Since then, I haven’t looked back. ”
Adaptive Sports Northwest is always looking for help and you can learn more through their website.
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