Photo courtesy of Move United.
The Hartford Nationals competition will include seven adaptive sports.
About 500 youth and adults with physical, visual or intellectual disabilities are expected to converge on Hoover, Birmingham, Homewood and Pelham in July for The Hartford Nationals, a national recreational sports competition.
The event, organized by the Move United national nonprofit, is scheduled to take place July 8-14 and include competitions in seven sports: archery, para powerlifting, paratriathlon, shooting, swimming, track and field and wheelchair tennis.
The archery competition will be at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, while shooting will take place inside the Finley Center at the Hoover Met Complex, and wheelchair tennis will be at the Hoover Met Center’s tennis complex.
The track and field events, which typically involve about 50% of the competitors, will take place at Spain Park High School, while the paratriathlon competition will be at Oak Mountain State Park.
Swimming events will be at the Birmingham CrossPlex, and the para powerlifting competition will be at the Lakeshore Foundation in Homewood.
Each competitor must qualify for The Hartford Nationals by placing at local or regional competitions sanctioned or approved by either Move United, a national governing body or a high school athletic association.
Move United has at least 200 member organizations in 43 states and provides opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in more than 70 adaptive sports, but the list of sports is narrowed down to seven for the summer national competition.
Move United has been holding its national competitions since 1957. It began as a competition for adult athletes and expanded to include youth in 1985. Then the adult portion of the competition fizzled out after 1995, and it was open from that point only to people ages 22 and younger, said Shuan Butcher, the communications manager for the organization.
However, Move United recognized the need to expand competition opportunities for adults with disabilities and this year reopened the event to adult competitors.
Last year’s national competition drew almost 400 youth competitors, and the organization expects the number of youth this year to grow by about 10%, Butcher said. With adults coming this year, the total number of competitors is expected to be about 500, he said. The final number won’t be known until just before the competition because qualifying events take place up until a week and a half before the national event, he said.
Even though there are competitions in just seven sports, there also will be demonstrations and clinics for wheelchair rugby, blind soccer, sitting volleyball, boccia, para cycling, wheelchair tennis, para swimming and powerlifting. These clinics are designed for both the athletes and other people with disabilities who want to learn about or play adaptive sports, Butcher said.
Some people with disabilities may have the idea that they can’t participate in sports, but these clinics are a great opportunity for people to try it out, he said.
The Lakeshore Foundation, whose mission is to provide people with disabilities the opportunity to live healthy lifestyles, is partnering with the city of Hoover to host this event, contributing its expertise in adaptive sports.
“We’re really excited,” said Mary Allison Cook, the interim communications director for the foundation. “This is the largest multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities.”
Events like this are not only good for the athletes, but they also help provide a blueprint for how society can meet the needs of people with disabilities in other areas of life, such as access to restrooms, parks or buildings, Cook said.
Competitions begin on July 9, and the opening ceremony for all athletes is to take place at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Tuesday, July 11, at 5:30 p.m., after more athletes arrive. A closing dinner celebration at the Finley Center is scheduled for Friday, July 14.
The opening ceremony and competitions are open to the public with free admission, but the closing celebration, while open to the public, requires pre-registration and has a cost due to the dinner, said Kelly Peoples, Hoover’s events manager. Hoover is set to be host for The Hartford Nationals in 2024 as well.
For more information about The Hartford Nationals, including the schedule of competitions and demonstration clinics, go to moveunitedsport.org/events/nationals.
