Disabled Sports USA
About Disabled Sports USA
What is Disabled Sports USA?
A national nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization established in 1967 by disabled Vietnam veterans to serve the war injured. DS/USA now offers nationwide sports rehabilitation programs to anyone with a permanent disability. Activities include winter skiing, water sports, summer and winter competitions, fitness and special sports events. Participants include those with visual impairments, amputations, spinal cord injury, dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, head injury, cerebral palsy, and other neuromuscular and orthopedic conditions.
Nationwide Chapter Network in Every Region
A Wide Variety of Recreational Opportunities
Disabled Sports USA is a nation-wide network of community-based chapters offering a variety of recreation programs. Each chapter sets its own agenda and activities. These may include one or more of the following: snow skiing; water sports (such as water skiing, sailing, kayaking, and rafting); cycling; climbing; horseback riding; golf; and social activities.
Sports As Rehabilitation
Gaining Confidence and Dignity
Rehabilitation professionals and even the Federal Government recognize the importance of sports and recreation in the successful rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. When first faced with the reality of a disability, many experience a loss of confidence, depression, and believe their lives have ended. They are often alienated from family and friends because there are no shared positive experiences. Sports and recreation offers the opportunity to achieve success in a very short time period; to use this success to build self-confidence and focus on possibilities instead of dwelling on what can no longer be done. The ability to participate in a sport, such as cycling; skiing; and sailing, to name a few, provides the opportunity to reunite with family and friends in a shared activity.
Competition as Rehabilitation
Dealing with Challenge and Change
As an extension of the rehabilitation process, Disabled Sports USA offers competitive programs in summer and winter sports. Competition improves sports skills. It allows individuals to experience the excitement of competition and the thrill of victory, as well as the agony of defeat. These experiences help prepare individuals after rehabilitation to face the adversity of a disability in their lives and to learn to bounce back in the face of challenge and change
The Road to the Paralympic Games
Quest for Excellence
As a member of the United States Olympic Committee, DS/USA sanctions and conducts competitions and training camps to prepare and select athletes to represent the United States at the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games are the Olympic equivalent competitions for individuals with disabilities and are recognized by the International Olympic Committee. For those who want to achieve their highest potential, opportunities are available for national and international competitions in alpine and nordic skiing, track and field, volleyball, swimming, cycling, powerlifting, and other sports. The highest achieving athletes in each sport can qualify for the Paralympics.
History of DS/USA
Disabled Sports USA was founded in 1967 by disabled Vietnam veterans. It was then called the National Amputee Skiers Association. In 1972 the National Amputee Skiers Association (NASA) was broadening its mission. No longer solely serving skiers, NASA needed a new name. They chose to call themselves the National Inconvenienced Sportsmen's Association. In 1976, NISA became the National Handicapped Sports and Recreation Association. The NHSRA name stuck until 1992 when the organization was renamed to National Handicapped Sports. In October 1994, after polling the organization's 80+ chapters and affiliates, the National Board of Directors approved the most recent name change to Disabled Sports USA.
According to Executive Director Kirk Bauer, "Disabled Sports USA" was selected for the following reasons:
- The word "disabled" brought the organization in line with current language used by the federal government. "Disabled" has become more universally accepted than "handicapped."
- Disabled Sports USA has become an organization of global importance. Disabled Sports USA fields teams to compete in the World Championships for track and field, cycling, volleyball, and swimming. It is now necessary to use "USA" rather than "National" to reflect this change in scope.
- Almost all of the US Olympic Committee-member National Governing Bodies for able-body sports have "US" or "USA" within their name (such as USA Basketball, US Skiing, and USA Volleyball). Disabled Sports USA is a Disabled Sports Organization member of the U. S. Olympic Committee.
Kirk Bauer has devoted more than 35 years of service to Disabled Sports USA (DS/ USA, formerly National Handicapped Sports), the first 12 years as a volunteer, and the last 23 as its executive director. Bauer knows firsthand what its like to face the challenges of disability. As noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army, Bauer lost a leg from a hand grenade during an ambush while serving in a combat unit in Vietnam in 1969.
During his service in Vietnam, Bauer was twice awarded the Bronze Star for heroism, as well as the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device. He also was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in combat.
As DS/USA's Executive Director, he has taken a small, all-volunteer organization, making it the nation's largest sports and recreation organization for physically disabled individuals; with more than 80 chapters nationwide, serving 60,000 people annually.
His accomplishments include establishing the first nationwide fitness exercise program for disabled individuals ("Fitness Is For Everyone" sm) and the first nationwide instructor training and certification program for ski instructors seeking expertise on disabled skiing. He introduced the first nationwide program to work with parents of disabled children to ensure their children's rights to physical education in the classroom.
Bauer led the fight for the full inclusion of athletes with disabilities in the Olympic Movement; culminating in the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act Amendments of 1998, recognizing Paralympic athletes as full members of the USOC.
For these accomplishments, Bauer was selected the 1998 Gene Autry Courage Award (1997 honors went to baseball great, Sammy Sosa.) He was selected as the 1986 "Healthy American Fitness Leader;" an honor presented yearly by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. This award has been given to such fitness notables as Jack LaLanne, Kathy Smith, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, and Richard Simmons. He also received a presidential appointment to the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and has served on the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Bauer became involved with Disabled Sports USA's programs when introduced to skiing by fellow Vietnam Veterans while undergoing rehabilitation in Letterman U.S. Army Hospital. He became an outstanding ski racer, winning medals in national competitions from 1972 to 1980. In 1979, he was selected for the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. Bauer became one of the first disabled ski instructors to be fully certified by the Professional Ski Instructors of America. He was the first ski instructor for the late Diana Golden, who became a World Champion disabled skier, after she lost her leg to cancer at the age of 12.
A native of Oakland, California, Bauer received a B. A. degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a law degree from Boston University. After graduating from law school in 1978, Bauer worked as a legislative aide in the U.S. Congress before assuming his present role as DS/USA Executive Director in 1982.
As a member of the "Over 50 Gang," Bauer is active in skiing, running, biking, hiking, and swimming. In 1999, he successfully completed the Marine Corps Marathon, his first, and won the 2000 Boston Marathon, in the "Mobility Impaired" class.
Position Statement
It is the position of DS/USA that the Disabled Sports Organizations (DSOs) be appropriately funded by the US Olympic Committee (USOC) to conduct development programs necessary to produce athletes for the National Governing Bodies (NGBs).
DS/USA supports the vertical integration of disabled athletes into the NGBs on an equal basis.
It is the goal of DS/USA that the USOC ultimately become the National Policy Organization (NPO). The U.S. Disabled Sports Team (USDST) will serve in that role until the USOC can meet the requirements of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) through legislation or other means.
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