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Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana Sports Program | RHI

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Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana Sports Program

The Adaptive Sports Program at Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana (RHI) is the primary provider of adaptive sports opportunities for individuals with disabilities in central Indiana (Indianapolis and surrounding areas).

 

This program provides those living with physical disability the opportunity to participate in adaptive sports and recreation, increasing their feelings of connection, confidence, purpose, meaning, possibility, thrill, and joy.

 

SERVING INDIVIDUALS WITH:
Spinal Cord Injury
Amputation
Brain Injury
Visual Impairment
Neurological Disorder
Any Physical Disability

 

The mission of the RHI Adaptive Sports Program is to provide competitive and non-competitive athletic opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities to enhance quality of life, promote physical fitness, introduce recreational and wheelchair sports, and challenge participants to perform at a competitive level. The Adaptive Sports Program specializes in serving youth and adults with spinal cord, orthopedic, neuromuscular, and visual impairments.

 

The Adaptive Sports Program began in 1996 with an adaptive water ski clinic, created by therapists at RHI to provide opportunities for patients to remain active and integrated into the community after discharge. The program grew over the years, becoming a Paralympic Sport Club in 2008 and providing monthly recreational clinics and Paralympic sports including racing, quad rugby, wheelchair basketball, and power soccer. Programs currently include competitive and recreational team sports, elite/Paralympic athletic programs, and recreational clinics.

 

Competitive and recreational team sports include wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, power soccer, beep baseball, wheelchair lacrosse, sled hockey, blind hockey, and quad rugby. Elite/Paralympic athletes compete in fencing, archery, water skiing, paratriathlon, racing, track and field, and para-powerlifting. Recreational clinics are held nearly twice per month including a wide variety of activities. In 2018, the RHI Adaptive Sports Program had a total of 277 active participants.

 

The RHI Sports Program holds two annual Water Ski Clinics for those with physical disabilities, allowing them the opportunity to try out a sport they may have never knew they enjoyed.

Activities

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Adaptive Shooting

Para Shooting has been part of the Paralympic Games since Toronto, Canada in 1976 and currently is being practiced in over 75 countries. Air Rifle and Pistol shooting is a test of skill and mental discipline, in which competitors use pneumatic rifles and pistols to fire a series of shots at a paper target. Competitions…

Alpine/Downhill Skiing

Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis.  There are tons of disabled skiers flying down the slopes across the country. Experienced skiers make it look easy as they swoosh and cut their way through powdery (and sometimes not so powdery) snow. While it takes some practice to refine…

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…

Bowling

Cycling

Rain, sleet, snow, or hail … it seems that no matter the weather, you can always see a cyclist biking for pleasure, on an errand, or keeping fit. The love of bike riding is rapidly growing across nearly every demographic. Cycling has always been a great way to enjoy the outdoors, socialize with fellow bikers,…

Fishing

Flyfishing made a real big difference in my recovery and helped flip that switch from thinking about negative things to positive things. There is a lot of peace and a lot of connecting with nature involved with fishing. – David Folkerts, Chief Operations Officer of Project Healing Waters   Fishing 101 Photo Credits: Matt Romero,…

Lacrosse/Wheelchair Lacrosse

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…

Pickleball

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…

Rock Climbing

One of the things I like about rock climbing is that it always gives you little triumphs. You can reach new levels, you are never out of challenges, and you can do it pretty much anywhere. – Jarem Frye, Climbing Enthusiast and K12 Prosthetics founder   Becoming Familiar with Adaptive Climbing For a full body…

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,…

Sailing

I have always been a competitive athlete and I enjoy that aspect of sailing. It’s not about who is the strongest, but who can think the best. It’s a three dimensional game of chess that is going on and the chess board is always changing. Water is never the same because of currents and the…

Scuba

Scuba is an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Although humans have been venturing underwater for more than 2000 years, it wasn’t until 1942 they were able to breathe underwater free from a surface supply of air. It was Jacques Cousteau, collaborating with French engineer Emile Gagnan, who developed the SCUBA. Getting Started To…

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…

Soccer/Power Soccer

There is a rapidly growing adaptive sport that is changing the way people think of those using a power chair. That sport is power soccer. “It is not only changing the perception others have, but also how participants think of themselves,” said Jonathan Newman, the Adult Sports Coordinator at Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program…

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…

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…

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…

Water Skiing

Water Skiing 101 Ride the Wake! There is nothing like spending a warm summer day by the water. But water-skiers will tell you that even better is a day spent water skiing along on the surface of the water with the wind in their hair. Don’t think because you have a disability that you can’t…

Wheelchair Rugby

Trying to describe the sport of wheelchair rugby may be difficult. You just have to see it. Better yet, you just have to play it. “There really isn’t an able-bodied counterpart,” according to Katie Joly, program manager at the Gaylord Hospital Sports Association, a Move United member organization based in Connecticut. “It is a mixture…

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CONTACTS

4141 Shore Drive Indianapolis IN 46254

LOCATION

4141 Shore Drive Indianapolis IN 46254

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