DisAbility Sports Festival

The goals for this unique festival are:

• to increase the quality of life and health of people with disabilities by introducing them to sports and physical activity opportunities;
• to raise awareness of disability sport and physical activity to the community; and
• to provide a service learning opportunity for college students.

Description:
Because of the overwhelming response from the athletes, parents, and community supporters, we are excited to announce the 3rd annual FREE DisAbility Sports Festival on Oct. 3, 2009 from 8am-4pm. The sports festival is a nonprofit event ran through the Foundation for CSU-San Bernardino. In the first 2 years of the festival, we have had over 300 athletes and 400 volunteers and then a couple hundred more family, friends, and supporters. We also had San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris, Cal State San Bernardino President Al Karnig, San Bernardino Valley College President Debra Daniels and several Paralympians as our guests. Last year, participants ranged in ages 3-74 and had various disabilities including sensory impairments, amputations and other
physical disabilities, autism, and cognitive disabilities.

The festival is FREE for people of all ages and all ABILITIES. Participants will receive a free breakfast, lunch, t-shirt, and goodie bag. Participants will be taught by elite athletes in up to 12 different sports including goalball (a blind team sport where you roll a ball into a large goal that is being blocked by the other team), martial arts, beep baseball, basketball (standup and wheelchair basketball), kayaking, wall climbing, tennis (standup and wheelchair tennis), cycling (tandem, single, and hand cycling), developmental motor activities for young children and severe disabilities, dance, swimming, and soccer.

You can also contact the DisAbility Sports Festival office if you have any questions at 909-537-5352 or sportfes@csusb.edu. The festival website address is http://web.me.com/vallesa or you can become a friend of the DisAbility Sports Festival on Facebook.com at www.facebook.com/sportsfestival.



History:
Chartered in 1960, California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) is one of 23 campuses in the California State University System. When classes began in 1965, just 283 students were enrolled. Today, CSUSB is the sole public, comprehensive university for San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, serving over 16,500 students with 42 baccalaureate and 20 masters programs. The University’s service area is vast, extending over 29,000 square miles from the Arizona and Nevada borders to the Los Angeles county line. The two counties served by CSUSB, collectively known as the Inland Empire, are the 12th and 13th largest counties in the U.S. and continue to have a population that is among the fastest-growing in the nation (US Census Bureau – Projected 2005 data).

In the last decade, the area population has increased over 60 percent to a total of three million residents, where no racial or ethnic group is a majority. The San Bernardino County Hispanic population is ranked among the top five in California and 13th nationally. The County is first in population growth of African-Americans among counties with at least 50,000 African-Americans, and there is a significant and rapidly growing Asian population.

Given the ethnic and racial diversity of the service area, the University has made a strong commitment to attract and retain the number of underrepresented students who attend the main campus and off-campus programs. The campus has been recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the Department of Education under Title V of the Higher Education Act [HEA] of 1965 with over 34% of its students of Hispanic descent. Student population studies show that 70 percent are considered first-generation college students and more than 51 percent are eligible for federal need-based financial aid.

This is the third year the DisAbility Sports Festival has been hosted by CSUSB. In the first year, we had 128 participants and 200 volunteers. Last year, we had over 200 participants, 200 volunteers, and 20 supporting agencies. We also continue to grow the number of sports and opportunities for people with disabilities with now 14 different sports and activities at the festival and throughout the year.



Contact people:


Aaron Moffett, Assistant Professor, (phone), (email) Diane Podolske, Director, Community Outreach, (phone), (email)


Main office number: (909) 537-5352
Office fax number: (909) 537-7085

Address:


5500 University Parkway HP 253 San Bernardino, CA 92407 (See a map)


Web Site: http://web.me.com/vallesa/

Directions:

Take the University Parkway exit off I215. Go north on University Parkway. Turn right (east) on Northpark and turn left on Coyote Drive. Here is the link to the campus map (www.csusb.edu/campus).   Nearest Bus Stop: California State University San Bernardino, 5 minute walk

Last updated on September 16, 2009