SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- The 7th annual DisAbility Sports Festival, postponed on its original date because of high winds, has been rescheduled for Sunday, Oct. 20, at Cal State San Bernardino.
Parking is free in Lot G, nearest to the athletic fields at the east end of the campus.
Organizers had to cancel the event when excessive high winds at the Cal State San Bernardino campus made it hazardous for participants, spectators and coaches.
Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Aaron Moffett, director of the DisAbility Sports Festival, reiterated the importance of safety when he said, “Safety has always been our top priority and always will be. When the winds increased to a dangerous level, we had to postpone the event. However, it just allows us more time to make this year’s event even better.”
Organizers are still expecting as many as 1,000 participants, including more than 100 disabled military veterans, competing in at least 20 different sports, including wheelchair and standing basketball, tennis, soccer, wall climbing, swimming and hand cycling.
Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The purpose of the festival is to increase the sports opportunities for athletes with disabilities and thereby increase their quality of life and health, said Moffett, who also is a professor of kinesiology at Cal State San Bernardino.
“The program has quickly become one of the largest sporting programs in the country for people with any disability,” Moffett said. “The growth is due to the testament of the need for such programs, especially for wounded warriors.”
“The reason that we do this is because it helps people focus on success and their abilities when sometimes people focus on perceived inabilities,” he said. “One of our military participants last year said that the event made him feel alive again since being back from Afghanistan. The power of sport can touch everyone’s life and that is why we have the DisAbility Sports Festival.”
Also featured will be an Assistive Technology fair discussing how people with disabilities can use technology to improve their quality of life and more than 30 information booths from community programs and services that are available for people with disabilities and their families.
Including volunteers, supporters, spectators and athletes, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people will come to the university for the festival.
Molina Healthcare is the lead sponsor of the event. Other sponsors include CSUSB’s Rec Sports, University Diversity Committee and the Inland Empire Health Plan.
Participants may register online or download the registration form – available in English and Spanish – from the event Web page.
For more information about the festival, visit the DisAbility Sports Festival website, e-mail sportfes@csusb.edu, or contact Aaron Moffett at (909) 537-5352.
Also, follow the event on Facebook and on Twitter at @DisSportsFest.
For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.
