WHEELCHAIR 
SPORTS IS
A GROWING PASSION
. . . with something for every
athlete on wheels
A spirited international wheelchair basketball community provides lots of support
for hundreds of men and women mobilized for action.
Hang-gliding is catching on as wheelers get out of the
chair and into the air . . .
Snowskiing
has become a popular winter sport for wheelchair users, who hit the
slopes with abandon when the temperatures fall.
'Brutally
competitive' hardly seems adequate to describe wheelchair hockey. As in quad rugby, the repair shops see
lots of action after the game.
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Off road mountain chairs
like this rugged model are a downhill success with hardy types.
Tennis
is expanding its reach,
and quick pivoting three-wheeled sportschairs
are the rage.
Watersports are growing in popularity among
wheelchair users
who can ski just fine sitting down.
Even the martial arts have opened to
wheelers, through an adaptation of TaeKwonDo developed by paraplegic Jurgen
Schmidt.
If you'd like something a little less intense, join those who enjoy wheelchair
billiards, wheelchair
softball (one of at least 30 teams in a nationwide league is shown in
action below), or wheelchair
bowling. 
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Trapshooting is one of many wheelchair
sports sponsored by organizations like the Eastern
Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Wheelchair racing has become a major sport, and every marathon
finds wheelers among the ranks, pushing the limits of their skills -- and the public perception of what the disabled can do.
 
Weight training and gym workouts are important among chair users, to tone the
upper body and stay trim. The 'No Boundaries' exercise
equipment above is typical of products now available to help
wheelers keep in shape.
Of course, you can muscle your way to the
top, like mathematican Ken Archer, above, who
won several wheelchair bodybuilding competitions, after retiring from
a wheelchair racing career.
Just when you think you've seen it all, you discover Geno
Rodgers, paralyzed from the shoulders down, who'll do just about
anything to stay active. Here, he climbs a cliff in New Mexico --
in his chair!
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