Angel City Sports is proud to share an update on our progress since being recognized as the PLAY category winner for the 2021 LA2050 Grants Challenge.

Angel City Sports (ACS) supports people with disabilities in reaching their fullest potential to engage with their communities, as well as helps the community to discover how to proactively and respectfully practice disability inclusion. To accomplish this, we create a broad spectrum of adaptive wellness opportunities for adults and children with physical disabilities to support their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The general public has an opportunity to participate in these adaptive activities, creating greater connection and awareness.

Wheelchair basketball is one of our most popular sports!

Program Progress

We have been able to provide both in-person and virtual programming for our participants over the past six months. We hosted a large hybrid event over the summer – offering a variety of panel discussions and Paralympic sport trainings. We focused on inviting both individuals with and without disabilities to participate to increase interest and awareness of the Paralympic Movement. Over five unique weeks, we served 340 participants, 49% of whom were allies living without disabilities. Throughout this initiative, we provided ample opportunity for everyone to develop a greater understanding of the disability experience by featuring discussions such as:

• Understanding and Addressing the Inequalities of Para-Sports
• Managing the Transition from the Battlefield to the Sport Field
• The Experiences of Athletes with Intersecting Marginalized Identities
• Is the Paralympic Movement Heading in the Right Direction?

Take a look at our overall impact from the 2021 Angel City Summer Series here.

Furthermore, ACS established a wheelchair football program that traveled nationally to represent Los Angeles and won the inaugural championship of the USA Wheelchair Football League. Establishing programs and traveling teams is a major milestone for the organization as it provides greater opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop their sense of independence, have more access to adaptive wellness activities, and feel more included and empowered by our communities. Our wheelchair football team was supported by the Los Angeles Rams and actually played at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. Having the platform to be supported by a powerhouse such as the NFL has had a tremendous impact on visibility and awareness building. Check out a feature on our Head Coach Bart Salgado here.

Our Los Angeles Rams Wheelchair Football Team- USAWFL Champs!

Finally, as 2021 concluded, ACS hosted a two-day, multi-sport festival – The Angel City Games – which provided free clinics, competitions, and special events for the entire Los Angeles community. In total, 1,000+ individuals of all ages and ability levels joined us for an opportunity to learn from Paralympians and to improve their knowledge and skills in more than 16 adaptive sports.

One major development was the increase of sport opportunities for individuals with blindness or visual impairments. We offered three sports specifically for visually impaired athletes – goalball, judo, and blind soccer – and another six sports in which they could also participate: golf, boccia, rowing, throws, air rifle, and archery.

We've added goalball, a Paralympic sport specifically for the visually impaired community, to our programming!

Challenges & Learnings

Although we were able to return to in-person programming in August, our community is still severely impacted by all aspects of the pandemic, and we have seen a decrease in our adaptive athlete participation. Many of our participants have suffered losses of family members or friends or have had a change in their income or employment. Another hurdle we've encountered is that many of our participants have seen an increase in their weight over the past two years which can provide a myriad of additional challenges including trouble transferring or discomfort in a wheelchair or prosthetic. To mitigate these issues and further support our participants we will increase our virtual fitness opportunities and provide a wider variety of in-person training sessions in 2022.

A Look Ahead

As we transition into the second half of our grant period, in addition to continuing to provide adaptive and wellness activities, our main focus will be opening the doors to a permanent home for Angel City Sports in Vernon! We are currently beginning renovations to create a space of genuine belonging – where every Angeleno, both those with and without disabilities, can have access to a safe space to play adaptive sports and connect with peers. This facility will house sport clinics, competitions, and support groups along with volunteer training and education seminars. This facility will omit barriers and create greater accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities while concurrently providing a platform for the entire community to learn, connect, and support the disabled population.

We will continue to use quantitative and qualitative data to measure our success. This will be obtained primarily through registrant tracking and comprehensive surveys that gauge post-participation levels of confidence, esteem, and motivation to continue to engage in adaptive health and wellness activities along with an opportunity to provide personal statements.

Through these efforts we have received testimonies such as this kind note from one new athlete: “This was my first Angel City Sports (in person) Summer Series event. It motivates me to keep up with my recovery and keep moving forward with my past year of experiencing and navigating through severe inflammation and pains. I became less depressed through sports provided by Angel City Sports and the many opportunities to connect was fulfilling."