Nonprofit News

Palms to Pines Parasports Begins in Desert Community

I am very excited to announce the launch of Palms to Pines Parasports (PPP) serving Riverside County. Our aim is to create a more-inclusive society by providing competitive and recreational opportunities for persons with physical disabilities while instilling a lifelong passion for wellness, helping athletes realize their full potential. We envision a world in which adaptive athletes have the same opportunities to lead as full a life as their able-bodied peers. I’ve attached a brief introduction about PPP and a flyer announcing our launch in the Coachella Valley on Saturday and in Riverside on Sunday.

Please check out our website and GoFundMe campaign, and like our facebook page. We want to Get Everyone Moving (GEM) and would appreciate your helping us to connect with persons with disability and others who would be interested in what we are doing. This is all really important to help us make Palms to Pines Parasports sustainable and create opportunities for persons with disability. We hope to teach all students about adaptive sport and disability through a school program. We will provide further details when it is safe to be back in school buildings.

This has really been a labor of love. I started on this journey in 2009 when I was working/volunteering for the Government of India-Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This is when I first started working with people with disability. I was also coaching basketball at the New Delhi YMCA on Saturday nights. In 2011 I collaborated on a Wheelchair Basketball Project with Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide in New Delhi and also in southern India. This got me started with coaching wheelchair basketball. After another year in India, I moved onto Nepal for four years and helped to build wheelchair basketball in this Country. Upon coming back to the US in September 2016, I was an Asst. Coach with the University of Arizona, women’s wheelchair basketball team. (As you might know, there aren’t a lot of collegiate level adaptive sports) I also co-founded a non-profit Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports (SAAS) in Tucson. I then went on to Durham, working at Bridge II Sports and coached youth in wheelchair basketball, also working with adults.

Thanks, looking forward to building the adaptive sport movement and creating a more inclusive world. Please let me know how we might collaborate. Mike

Michael J. Rosenkrantz

Board President

760-469-9207

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