Try stopping a ball or doing a yoga plank pose while blindfolded. Score a basketball or cross the goal line while riding in a wheelchair. Those experiences are all part of what the Recreation and Wellness Center featured during the 2014 Adaptive Recreation Expo held at the RWC in February. The RWC partnered with Student Disability Services, the Orlando Magic Wheels and Orange County to put on the day-long event featuring the great activities available at the RWC for students with disabilities.
Students of all abilities teamed up in several great events including: blindfolded yoga, Adaptive Table Tennis and Badminton, a Paralympic Sport called Goalball, Quad Rugby (wheelchair rugby) and Wheelchair Basketball. Katherine Torres a UCF sophomore from Orlando who uses a wheelchair, was excited to take part in such a unique event, “The first thing was blindfold yoga. I’ve never done yoga before so it was a big challenge and it definitely was a workout and it was a lot of fun. Then after that I came over here to the main gym and played table tennis. It was a little harder than I thought it would be but it was a lot, a lot of fun. I like how all the RWC workers came and got into the wheel chairs and have a good open mind about things and actually took it seriously.”
The event isn’t only for students with disabilities like Torres. The able body student population also participated. Some were blindfolded during yoga and Goalball and others learned how to play wheelchair sports like Quad Rugby. Jessica Ramirez a graduate student from Ocala, found the game challenging for several reasons, “I like Quad Rugby because it was more team effort and it was super fun and I’ve never done it before. I have no upper body strength at all. I didn’t know how to work a wheelchair at all or how to make it turn, so yes it was challenging.”
Torres, a health services administration major and client with the RWC’s Student Assisted Workout program says she’s excited about the RWC’s efforts to program for students with disabilities, “I’ve met a couple of the other clients and they have the same positive feedback about the program. It’s good to reach out to people with disabilities to come and be fit and not be afraid to just do stuff and not be intimidated by other things.”
For more information, contact RWC coordinator Andrea Snead at: andrea.snead@ucf.edu or visit: rwc.sdes.ucf.edu/programs/fitness/adaptive-recreation.