Ability Olympics: Where EVERYONE can be an Athlete!
Ability Olympics is a multi-sport Olympic-style event for individuals ages 8-22 with any disability. The
mission is to empower individuals by giving them the chance to compete in a challenging yet successful
athletic environment as well as learn about other sports opportunities for people with disabilities.
When
Friday, April 25, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Social Event)
Saturday April 26, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Athletic Event)
Where
James Madison University
Contact
Sarah Miller - abilityolympicsjmu@gmail.com
What is this?
● Olympic-style: Similar to the Commonwealth Games, where participants are grouped by their
region and compete for their region (like the Olympics/Paralympics compete for their country).
● Multi-event: Participants can sign up and compete in multiple events (3 rounds of events
available).
● Clinic/Workshop component: Following each competition, participants can “try out” events they
have never done before. For example, following the wheelchair basketball competition, other
participants can get in chairs and try out wheelchair basketball.
Who does this serve?
● All disability categories able to compete.
● Ages 8-22 will compete in their respective age groups.
● Competitions are broken down by ability level, where the type of disability is taken into account.
● Participants with disabilities compete together:
○ Orthopedic Impairment (non-ambulatory and ambulatory classifications)
○ Intellectual/Autism (high functioning and low functioning classifications)
○ Learning Disability, Hearing Impairment, and Emotional Disability classifications
○ Other Health Impairments dependent on ability level
● Bottom Line: Participants will compete in classifications that provide the appropriate challenge
level.
● This is a family event, where siblings may come and some activities may be provided for them.
○ There will be specific events where siblings will get to compete with their brother/sister.
○ There will be a “kids zone” for younger siblings available all day.
Why we need you?
● Spread the word: We need you to share this opportunity with others by promoting the event to:
○ Potential participants and families
○ Students who may volunteer
○ Colleagues and employees interested in volunteering or partnering with us.
●
Partnership: Families within our community seek these opportunities, and we cannot provide it
without you. Areas of partnership include:
○ Financial: To cover scholarships for families in need, meal expenses, managing the event
○ Leadership: To commit to leading events during the Ability Olympics
○ Promotion: Sharing this opportunity with others (e.g., families, participants, volunteers)
Need Volunteers!
● Specific groups of individuals will be needed to help facilitate each competition.
● individuals will be needed to serve as one-on -one mentors (little experience needed).
● Volunteer assignments during the event will include:
○ Facilities management
○ Family support
○ Managing events
○ Mentors/one-on-one buddies
○ Runners to help navigate event to event by walking with participants (tour guide style)
○ Placements: People placed at key locations to help guide people from location to
location.
How Ability Olympics began
● Dr. Thomas Moran, associate professor at James Madison University, met in 2013 Disney’s
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex director of business development, Kevin Weickel. Mr.
Weickel expressed his interest in having Disney support the concept that everyone--people of all
ages and ability levels--can be an athlete, not just professional, collegiate, AAU, high school, or
youth athletes and teams that compete at Disney each year.
● The vision of Mr. Weickel and Disney is to create an Olympic-style event allowing individuals with
disabilities from across the country to come to the Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
for a weekend to compete and show off their ABILITIES. His goal is 3,000-5,000 participants. The
more people, the lower the cost for families.
● Significant planning and strong partnerships will be needed to make this dream a reality. The goal
is to launch this event in at Disney by Winter/Spring of 2016.
● As an initial attempt at launching a large event, we would like the athletic and disability
community to come together to conduct a statewide event in Virginia as a pilot program to set the
standard for the pending Disney event. We will need sponsorships and partnerships with
numerous individuals and groups from across the state to not only set a standard for a more
wide-reaching event at Disney, but also to establish an expected level of competition for youth
with disabilities that is organized and governed in the state of Virginia.