Wayfinder Family Services Joins Angel City Sports: Blind Paralympic activities added to annual adaptive sports event
Los Angeles, CA (February 5, 2020) — Wayfinder Family Services (Wayfinder) and Angel City Sports are partnering to bring Paralympic sports for the blind and visually impaired to the 2020 Angel City Games presented by The Hartford. The Angel City Games presented by The Hartford is the largest multi-sport Paralympic competition in the U.S. and will be held June 18-21st at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Over 550 athletes of all ages and skill levels, from all over the country, who have a physical disability or visual impairment are expected to participate in the 2020 Games.
The 2020 Games will feature clinics and competitions in nine Paralympic sports, including track and field, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, table tennis, sitting volleyball, archery, goalball, and power lifting. The 2020 Games will also offer cheerleading and Esport. In addition, there will be the Experience Zone for the entire community to try adaptive sports, and an impressive weekend full of special events and entertainment.
Wayfinder will help create a four-day sports program at the 2020 Games designed specifically for the blind and visually impaired, including goalball, archery, track and field, and swimming. In addition, Wayfinder will host introductory clinics in blind judo, biathlon laser rifle, and beep baseball over the weekend in the Experience Zone.
Wayfinder Family Services previously hosted an annual event, the Wayfinder Paralympic Games (formerly known as the Junior Blind Olympics) and saw an opportunity to enrich the Wayfinder athlete experience by combining efforts to create one large-scale event that serves the entire community.
“Wayfinder is thrilled to partner with Angel City Sports to give our athletes who are blind or visually impaired the opportunity to compete at UCLA’s world-class facilities, as well as a chance to meet Paralympic athletes and champions from all over the country. We are proud to join the fastest growing adaptive sports movement on the West Coast,” said Miki Jordan, Wayfinder’s president and chief executive officer.
“Angel City Sports is excited to partner with Wayfinder to offer a premiere adaptive sports experience to athletes, new and experienced, who are blind or visually impaired. Their six decades of providing programming and empowering life-changing experiences for children and adults with disabilities is invaluable to our efforts,” said Clayton Frech, chief executive officer and founder of Angel City Sports. “With Wayfinder’s support, we are re-envisioning the entire structure of the Games, from technology to sport to volunteer roles, to better accommodate the visually impaired and blind athletes. We hope this draws hundreds of athletes out this year, and thousands in future years,” offered Camille Mahlknecht, games director.
For information related to the Games, please go to www.angelcitygames.org or follow Angel City Sports on social at @angelcitysports.
To learn more about Wayfinder, visit www.wayfinderfamily.org or follow @wayfinderfamily.
About Angel City Sports
Angel City Sports provides year-round adaptive sports opportunities in Southern California for children, adults and veterans with physical differences and impairments. The non-profit organization is focused on encouraging physical activity for people with disabilities and advancing the adaptive sports movement regionally and nationally in collaboration with programs such as US Paralympics, Adaptive Sports USA, USA Volleyball, US Tennis Association and USA Track and Field. Debuting in 2015 and currently hosted at UCLA, the annual four-day Angel City Games features clinics and competition in adaptive sports and activities including track & field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, swimming and archery. Additional programs, clinics and events throughout the year cover an even wider range of adaptive sports and are open to people with physical differences. The organization also supports emerging school-based programs through adaptive sports equipment rental, coaching education and athlete training. To learn more, please visit www.angelcitysports.org.
About Wayfinder Family Services
Wayfinder Family Services is the place to turn for people facing the greatest challenges—from people with vision loss and severe developmental disabilities to children in foster care. We work as partners to find specific solutions to help each program participant discover their path to sustained well-being. Early intervention, special education, recreation, independence, workforce development and mental health programs give people of all ages who have disabilities the opportunity to thrive. Our residential programs for foster youth provide a safe haven, mental health services and medical care. Children and youth who need loving homes are matched with families through our foster care and adoption program. For over 60 years, Wayfinder has been building a more inclusive, equitable world because we believe that everyone deserves a chance to reach their full potential.