Recreational Sports Through
"A Sporting Chance"  (ASC)

We Serve

·         Any Person with any Disability

·         Youth who are Disadvantaged

·         "At Risk" Teenagers

·         Abused & Neglected Children

·         Children with a variety of situations in the life

·         Senior Citizens

A Sporting Chance (ASC) wants to make sure that the needs of all athletes are being met.  Our goal is to make sure everyone gets to compete, either in competitive or in recreational sports. We will make any change necessary to any set of rules if it helps someone have fun and gives them the opportunity to play. The Competitive Sports avenue is easy to understand but the Recreational Sport is a little different. I would like to take a little time to explain the recreational sports and give you an opportunity to make suggestions that will also help "put the fun" back into sports programs.  

Examples of Recreational Sports

The following paragraphs will give examples in some sports to get you to think about what we can do to make the program better.  Please submit any suggestions or ideas that you would like to see incorporated.  Any athlete, (in any sport),  who needs leniency on rules will be afforded that opportunity if we know the situation ahead of time.  

In Track  ‑  Individuals who use wheelchairs can be assisted by the Coach or Parent during competition. ASC will allow Partners for athletes in wheelchairs, on crutches,  who are blind, elderly,  etc.  If the athlete in a wheelchair wants to do the obstacle course and cannot turn the wheelchair around then the Partner can help with the turns.  Athletes who are blind can have a Partner run along side them or be in front of them giving assistance where needed.  

In Softball  ‑  Athletes who use wheelchairs, crutches,  who are blind, or elderly, or just have low motor functioning abilities who can hit the ball but cannot wheel or run by  themselves to 1st base can be assisted by a Partner. The Partner can help push the athletes wheelchair. When the athlete is in the field the Partner can stay close pick up the ball, hand it to the athlete in the wheelchair and let the athlete throw the ball to a base or another person.  

In Bowling  ‑  ASC will allow anyone who needs to, the opportunity to do bumper bowling, if it helps them be successful.  Also, if  any of your athletes want to bowl 1 game, 2 games or 3 games we will give them that opportunity.  We will have team competition (4 on a team), doubles competition (2 on a team), competition for anyone who needs to use a ramp, and regular individual competition.  

In Basketball  ‑  ASC will have as many divisions as we need for everyone of all ability levels to have a chance to compete with others of like ability.  If someone does not understand the 3 second violation, cannot shoot from the regular free throw line, or cannot dribble consistently we offer divisions where those rules have been taken out.  For children aged 3 ‑ 7 who cannot shoot at a regular 10 foot goal we have competition on either 6 foot or 8 foot goals depending on their ability. 

In Golf – ASC provides a weekly program where the athletes actually get to play 9 holes of golf every week beginning in June and concluding in September with an 18 hole golf tournament. For those who cannot play the actual game of golf we also provide golf instruction and practice on the driving range. We call our golf program an Integrated Golf program because each golfer is paired with a Volunteer Coach who team up with an athlete to play golf. We play an alternating shot format where the Coach tees off and then the athlete hits, then the Coach, then the athlete, etc, etc. ASC either provides the Volunteer Coach or a family member, Father, Mother, Sibling, Uncle, etc. can play with your athlete.  

In Swimming – ASC offers swimming in 2 different ways. We offer Aquatic Therapy which is mainly 1 – 1 water therapy with a specialist. We also offer Individual and group Swimming Instruction which is mainly for people who do not know how to swim and want to learn. We do not offer swimming or diving competition.  

Family Oriented Sports  ‑  ASC offers a program in as many sports as possible that allows family members to compete with their special athlete. As an example: In Bowling we want to offer Family Team Bowling (4) people. One member of the 4 person team must be a person with a disability or a person who is disadvantaged and the other 3 should be members of that persons family.  We also offer 2 Families Team bowling for (4) people. This would mean that 2 families get together and form a team. This would mean that 2 athletes would have a disability and 2 people would be family members.  

Integrated Sports Programs  ‑  ASC also has a program that includes people with disabilities with people who do not have disabilities.  Our Integrated program allows other school mates, friends, neighbors, church friends, and others to compete on the same team with our special athletes.  This is done in just about every sport that we have and makes for a good learning situation and good competition. This is also done in our golf program where we play an alternating shot format which affords everyone the chance to learn and have fun. 

In Competitive Sports Avenues  ‑  A Sporting Chance does have competition for those who really want to play the game by the regular rules.  We have teams in basketball that have players who can dunk the ball, shoot the eyes out of the basket at 3 point range, and dribble the ball where no one can steal it.  We have athletes in softball who can hit the ball out of 300 foot ball parks and throw the ball from centerfield in the air to home plate.  In track we have athletes who run the 100 meter dash in 11 seconds and the mile run in under 6 minutes.   

Recreational Trips and Dances  ‑  One of the Major goals for ASC is to offer recreational trips and dances for the athletes.  We have the availability of overnight trips for those who can help raise the funds to attend.  ASC takes over 1,000 people to Branson in May for our Track Meet and we attend Silver Dollar City,  we get over 1,000 tickets to the Branson Country Shows, we eat in restaurants and we stay in motels.   Dances are offered at least 2 times a year:  1) The first dance is held in conjunction with the State Bowling Tournament in Late November or Early December.  2). The second dance is held in the Spring and everyone is invited.