The Paralympics at Sochi kicks off on March 7, just weeks after the conclusion of the Olympic games. Together, these events show the breadth and passion so many of us feel for sport. At the Paralympics, competitions will include Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, a biathlon, ice sled hockey, and wheelchair curling.
Whether your personal best amounts to a day of fun, a regular workout, or Olympic and Paralympic dreams, there are so many great options for you to step up your own game right here in your favorite city — New York — where NYC Parks offers programs, facilities and sports clinics for all ages and needs.
We offer basketball and wheelchair basketball, ice hockey and ice sled hockey, tennis and wheelchair tennis, rugby and quad rugby, biking and hand cycling, sit volleyball, beep baseball, adaptive swimming, and serious training in NYC Parks locations citywide. I’ve been living with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) since 2003, and if you’re a little like me, an injury is the last thing to stop you from playing the sports you love.
In Queens, Flushing Meadows Corona Park offers sled hockey programs for children as young as four years old, and scheduled adaptive swimming for teens, adults, and seniors in the indoor pool. The Flushing Meadows Corona Park Boat House is the site of a designated U.S. Paralympic Sport Club, and in partnership with Row New York, offers opportunities to train on adaptive rowing teams for competitions. NYC Parks’ Playgrounds for All Children feature ground-level, ramped and elevated play equipment, accessible picnic tables, accessible bathrooms, and lowered basketball hoops. The first opened at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in 1984.
In Manhattan, stop by the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center on West 60th Street or the Hansborough Recreation Center on 135th Street near Lenox Avenue for youth, teen, adult, and senior adaptive swimming and sports clinics.
In Brooklyn, the newly restored McCarren Pool and Play Center features universally-designed fitness equipment in its gym and, for summer fun, a fully ADA-compliant outdoor pool.
In the Bronx, Joseph Yancey track and field in Macombs Dam Park is fully accessible.
In Staten Island, try the Greenbelt Recreation Center, which features inclusive fitness equipment.
Most recreation center classes require membership, which is free for kids, only $25 for the entire year for young adults and seniors, and extremely low-cost for adults. ShapeUp NYC classes do not require membership.
For more information and details, go to www.nyc.gov/parks and search adaptive sports or recreation centers.