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Angel City Sports

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Angel City Sports

Angel City Sports began in June 2013 when Clayton and Ezra Frech were on the track at the Endeavor Games in Oklahoma City and asked the question, “Why do we need to come to tornado alley to run, jump, and throw things? Why aren’t there more programs in Southern California?”

 

This began our journey to create the Angel City Games, Southern California’s own multi-sport Paralympic style competition and celebration of Adaptive Sports. In October 2014, we found a facility and programming partner in UCLA Recreation and set about to create a one-of-a-kind competition and event experience for youth and adults with physical disabilities.

 

The first Angel City Games in June 2015 were tremendously successful, with 150 athletes participating in Track & Field and Wheelchair Basketball clinics and competition. Over 1,300 attendees came through over the 2 day event; Hollywood stars Adam Sandler and Christian Bale and several pro athletes were on-hand to cheer the athletes and participate in our Celebrity Wheelchair Basketball Game; and our media partners at Fox Sports AM 570 – LA’s largest sports radio station – broadcast live from the track at UCLA’s Drake Stadium during the event. The first Angel City Games exceeded all of our expectations and were a huge hit with families, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and most importantly with the athletes, many of whom participated in Adaptive Sports for the first time.

 

Upon wrapping up the 2015 Games and recognizing the tremendous barriers that exist for this community to become active and participate in sports, we expanded our vision and pivoted our brand to Angel City Sports. We hope to address the myriad of challenges that exist – lack of events, programs, training, and coaches, transportation and access, the high cost of equipment, and the expansive geography of Southern California – and spark the Paralympic and Adaptive Sports movement in our community.

 

Today we’re offering a year-round schedule of introductory adaptive sport clinics, giving athletes opportunities to participate, learn and train in a variety of sports. We’ve expanded the Angel City Games from two to four days, adding new sport clinics and competitions including Archery, Swimming, Wheelchair Tennis, Track & Field, and Wheelchair Basketball. We’re building an inventory of Adaptive Sports equipment to be loaned or rented to other programs and individuals who want to get into the game. As more participants join us throughout the year at clinics and events we look forward to learning about their goals and aspirations to participate in Adaptive Sports.

 

The mission of Angel City Sports is to create sports opportunities for adults, children, and veterans with physical differences and impairments. Our goals are to encourage physical ACTivity and demonstrate LEADership to strengthen the adaptive sports movement. Our initial programming focus is on Southern California, but our events and programming will draw athletes from all over the country.

 

ACT
Access to Equipment – Maintain an inventory of Adaptive Sports equipment to minimize equipment barriers.
Competition – The Angel City Games, Southern California’s own Paralympic-style multi-sport competition.
Training – Host and coordinate introductory sport clinics, athlete training and development programs.

 

LEAD
Leadership – Lead the Adaptive Sports community through partnerships, collaboration and resource sharing.
Ecosystem – Connect athletes and partners to spark the Adaptive Sports movement.
Awareness – Increase awareness of Adaptive Sport and the Paralympic movement through all types of media.
Development – Develop and share athlete stories to grow the Paralympic movement.

 

Angel City Sports is addressing a significant societal problem that there is a large population of individuals living with physical challenges in Southern California, yet participation rates in adaptive sports programs are extremely low as a percentage of the disabled population. Even making the assumption that there were 50 strong adaptive sports programs that each had 1,000 athletes in Los Angeles and Orange County, therefore there were 50,000 known athletes participating in adaptive sports programs, this would amount to only 3% of the 1.7 M that have trouble walking or climbing stairs. In reality, the numbers are significantly worse, as there are roughly 10-15 programs, each with 100 athletes at most, in Southern California.

Activities

See All

Badminton/Para-Badminton

You may be familiar with the game of badminton. Many schools teach the sport in physical education class. It is also often played at family reunions, on beaches, and in backyards across the country. But for many, that is the extent of it. Not everyone knows that it is a highly competitive sport all over…

Archery

Archery is a versatile activity. It is something that can be done for fun, for hunting, or for competition. “Target shooting wasn’t a thing for me,” said US Para Archery Head Coach Jonathan Clemins. “But I realized I enjoyed shooting my bow as much as I enjoyed hunting.” In addition, archery can be a year-round…

Basketball

In the beginning you had to have a spinal cord injury in order to play wheelchair basketball. But that, much like the game itself, has come a long way since 1946. Today, in order to be eligible to play wheelchair basketball within the NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Association) a person must have a permanent lower…

Canoeing

There is a lot to the sport – more than numbers on the scoreboard, the human side to this is a very powerful experience and I think all the para-athletes can appreciate that they are working to help each other. It brings countries and people together in a marvelous way.Jan Whitaker, President of Paralympic Sport…

Fencing

When Byron Branch was younger, he was involved in a chess club and played a lot of chess. “I’ve always been intrigued by anything that is intellectually heavy,” he said. When he was 16, he decided to give fencing a try. He did pretty well. One year later, he would take third place in Ohio’s high school state championships.…

Goalball

You are on an indoor athletic court and you can’t see. It is quiet. Suddenly, you hear a ball, with three bells on the inside, coming at you at nearly 40 mph. Your teammates are relying on you to stop it from going into the net. That is the sport of goalball. “For any fan…

Golf

“That’s what makes golf so great. It’s a handicap system. If I’m playing against a guy who’s got all his limbs and he’s got a 14 handicap, I’ve got to give him seven strokes. Golf is such an equal game because of the handicap system. That’s what makes it fun for people everywhere to play.”…

Martial Arts

Taekwondo Taekwondo is an ancient Korean martial art using dynamic movements including a variety of foot skills. The sport gets its name from the combination of three Korean words “Tae” meaning foot, “Kwon” meaning fist and “Do” meaning way or discipline. The combination provides the basis of the sport, which focuses on sparring techniques utilizing…

Powerlifting

You are lying on a bench. You reach up to grab the bar that is nestled on the rack. You bring the bar off the rack, descend it to your chest evenly and ascend it back up before putting the bar back in the rack. In essence, and in the simplest terms, that is the…

Running/Wheelchair Racing

Getting Started   Start Slow to Go Fast   Just because you have never run farther than the bus stop, is not a reason to ignore the pleasures of recreational and competitive running. The sport provides many benefits. Besides improving overall health, cholesterol levels, and lung function, running is a confidence booster, a stress reliever,…

Sled Hockey

All About Sled Hockey Sled Hockey A Sport for All Abilities Sled hockey had its beginning in the early 1960s when some enterprising athletes at a physical rehabilitation center in Sweden wanted to play the game. The men modified a metal frame sled with two regular-sized ice hockey skate blades that allowed the puck to pass…

Swimming

Since the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, swimming has been one of the Games’ main sports.   The thrill of competition aside, swimming offers many benefits including strengthening the cardiovascular systems and the major muscle groups of both the upper and lower body. It also develops flexibility in the muscles and joints as…

Tennis/Wheelchair Tennis

The people you meet through tennis are friendly, happy, optimistic and outgoing, They just want to have a good time and want others to have a good time. – Steve Kappes, Director of the San Diego Wounded Warrior Tennis Program and Director of Military Outreach for the San Diego District Tennis Association   All About…

Table Tennis

Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world with 16 million players in the U.S. alone. You can find table tennis in the basements and rec rooms of individual homes and apartments across the country. You can also play the game at sport and recreation facilities, university centers, and various other…

Track and Field

Track and Field is the largest Olympic and Paralympic sport in terms of the number of athletes and number of classifications and categories. In addition to the races that take place on the track, there are a number of competitions that take place on the field inside the track. In particular, there are throwing and…

Triathlon

Getting Started Get Out and TriThank you to Dare2tri for contributing information and photos for this article. Paratriathlon made its Paralympic competition debut in Rio 2016.  The sport, which combines swimming, running and biking into one race, has been rapidly growing in the U.S. and abroad among athletes at all age ranges and ability levels.  From…

Sit Volleyball

Becoming Familiar with Sitting Volleyball See You On The Floor! Looking for a sport that will give you a cardio workout, challenge your strategic thinking, and enable you to be on a team, all while just having fun? Then sitting volleyball may be perfect for you. Like many adaptive sports, sitting volleyball can be played…

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CONTACTS

2355 Westwood Blvd #1139 Los Angeles CA 90064

LOCATION

2355 Westwood Blvd #1139 Los Angeles CA 90064

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