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Colorado Vignette - National Sports Center for the Disabled

We have a very special place here in Colorado, the National Sports Center for the Disabled is an innovative non-profit organization that provides recreation for children and adults with disabilities. What began in 1970 as a one-time ski lesson for 23 amputee children has evolved into the largest and most successful program of its kind in the world. In addition to recreational downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing lessons, NSCD provides year-round competition training to ski racers with disabilities. Summer recreation opportunities include biking, hiking, in-line skating, sailing, therapeutic horseback riding, white water rafting, baseball, fishing, rock climbing for the blind, and camping.

Each year, about 3,000 children and adults with disabilities enjoy the recreation opportunities provided by the NSCD or train with the NSCD’s competition program. A staff of 54 and more than 1,000 trained volunteers provide about 28,000 lessons to participants from 50 states and almost a dozen international groups. Participants’ disabilities include blindness; amputation; deafness; developmental disabilities; permanent spine, head or limb injuries; birth defects; terminal and progressive illnesses; severe asthma; and severe diabetes.

The NSCD, headquartered in Winter Park is recognized as a leader in therapeutic recreation. Ski School instructors and outdoor recreation specialists from around the country and world visit the NSCD throughout the year for clinics or travel to Winter Park for the NSCD’s annual adaptive sports symposium to learn how to develop or improve their own programs. In addition, the NSCD competition program hosts learnto-race camps for teens and young adults at ski resorts nationally and travels to several states to hold rock climbing sessions for the blind.

Participants learn there is “no mountain too high” through NSCD opportunities that build self-confidence through recreational and competitive challenges. “A feeling of freedom so profound I can’t begin to describe came over me,” wrote one man, paralyzed from the waist down. “For the first time in my life I was doing something I didn’t dare let myself dream much less believe I could do ... Through your patience and boundless compassion I realize that I could accomplish anything I desired if I worked hard enough.”

These dedicated workers and volunteers are an inspiration to us all and we are proud to have this amazing facility in Colorado. For more information about the National Sports Center for the Disabled, call 970-726-1540 or 303-316-1540. Web site is http://www.nscd.org. You may write to the NSCD at PO Box 1290, Winter Park, CO 80482. FAX 970-726-4112.

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