November 2003 Table of Contents

Build It — They'll Come

A place where people—with and without disabilities—can come to exercise, play basketball, take a few laps around the track, or simply socialize is about to be born.

A New Challenge

Is wheelchair basketball at a crossroads? Would a proposed rule change have a positive or negtive impact on the game?

Barons Control the Land

After years of repeat softball champions, the past two have brought new blood to the winner's circle.

Waterlogged

Florida hosted two top water-ski competitions, and the good ol' red-white-and-blue shone brightly.

In My Opinion

There's lots of sports stuff in the spotlight this month. Editor Cliff Crase touches on the Paralyzed Veterans of America's Outdoor Sports Program (which adds hunting to its existing trapshooting and bass-fishing events), a new book about competitive wheelchair sports, and a peek at what to expect in next month's coverage of the 2003 Quickie U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

Basketball

Eighteen teams from across the country and from Mexico and Japan took to the courts at the Texas Shootout, kicking off the North American wheelchair basketball season. When the dust settled, who came out on top? Tip Thiboutot also reports on a basketball festival at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater attended by 50 of the U.S.'s best young players.

Fishing

The Land of Lincoln Bass Tour netted 316 bass totalling 484.03 lb—and the tournament's winner squeaked by the next closest competitor by a mere 1 oz! And at the Lake Winnipesaukee (N.H.) NEPVA Bass Tournament, a new site is announced for the 2005 National PVA Bass Tour.

Sailing

Storms forced a premature end to early competition at the Independence Cup/North American Challenge Cup. Read about the close (1 point!) finish of the three-day race, as well as reports on a new sailing event sponsored by Shake-A-Leg and six sailboats recently contributed for use by San Diego-based Challenge America.

Tennis

The International Tennis Federation was busy last summer, hosting a Junior Wheelchair Tennis Camp in Austin, Tex., and a two-day camp in El Salvador, Central America. This month's issue reports on both events, as well as The Mobility Project's two new wheelchair tennis teams, in Mazatlan and Culiacun, Mexico.

Scorecard

Not only are they all women, all living in different cities, all practicing at individual self-made home shooting ranges, all communicating via the Internet, and all getting assistance only from family and friends rather than coaches, but the Texas Shooting Stars also won it all on the NRA-Beeman Grand Prix Championship Circuit. Read about this unusual team's history-making accomplishments in this month's issue, along with reports on who won the 2003 Marianjoy 5/10k Run and 10k Wheelchair Race (Wheaton, Ill.) and the U.S. 10k (Atlanta). There's also news about this year's Baltimore City Wheelchair Bocce Tournament.

Juniors

Begun as a pilot program to allow children with physical and mental disabilities to play ball, the Challenger Division has become Little League Baseball's fastest-growing division. Read this month's issue to find out how you can get involved and on the field. And if you're a kid thinking about going to camp this year, you and your parents will want to check out the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability's free brochure, "Discover Camp." Find out more about it in our magazine; order via e-mail (ncpad@uic.edu). This month you'll also learn about a resource for furthering your education—electronically.

Fitness

Heart disease is the #1 killer of people in the U.S., while stroke is the #3 cause of death. This month, Purdue University's Dr. Larry S. Verity presents some facts and fitness tips that can help you prevent—or survive—a heart attack or stroke.

Training

The "top-end gear" is the skill of reaching and maintaining that high percentage of maximal sppeds that determine whether a racer finishes in the middle of the pack or breaks into the top three. This month, Marty Morse and Adam Bleakney tell you how to prepare yourself mechanically, psychologically, technically, and physically to push consistently at higher-than-normal speeds.

Playbook

If you are an undergraduate student with SCI, you may be eligible for one of five full academic scholarships at Pennsylvania's Slippery Rock University. Information about qualifications and how to apply are in this issue, which also features news about Moving Mountains' programs to adapt outdoor adventures to people with SCI, a (paralyzed) swimmer who successfully finished the Strait of Gibraltar swim from Spain to Morocco, wheeling pilot Antonio Faria e Mello's attempt to fly solo around the world in 60 days, and Spokes 'n Motion's all-terrain beach wheelchair.

Timeout

Guest columnist Randy Snow shares his opinion that, more than the Olympian, the Paralympic athlete better parallels what sports—and life for that matter—is all about.

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