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Adaptive Sports

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Adaptive Sports

Reach for the STARS.

Sitrin STARS (Success Through Adaptive Recreation and Sports) is an innovative adaptive sports program that provides individuals with physical disabilities opportunities to engage in a variety of sports on a recreational or competitive basis.

The STARS philosophy: Stay active, stay well.

Established in 2001, the program grew out of the knowledge that, once their rehabilitation regimen is complete, individuals with disabilities still need recreational and social activities in order to stay healthy, both physically and emotionally. STARS is part of Sitrin’s overall mission to:

  • Rehabilitate bodies
  • Rejuvenate minds
  • Renew spirits

...by helping participants stay active in a supportive, caring environment.

We believe that physical activity and social interaction is vital to everyone’s good health and well-being. That is why everyone can participate in STARS, and we encourage you to get involved.

Program benefits.

The Sitrin STARS program helps improve:

  • Endurance
  • Balance
  • Strength
  • Coordination
  • Range of motion
  • Socialization
  • Self-esteem

Activities.

STARS offers the opportunity to participate in a variety of adaptive sports programs, including:

Basketball

The STARS wheelchair basketball team features a year-round schedule of practices and games, including competition with regional teams and community groups. The annual Sitrin Celebrity Classic Wheelchair Basketball Game features local celebrities and other prominent people who take to wheelchairs to compete against the Sitrin STARS.

Curling

During the winter, STARS offers wheelchair curling in conjunction with the Utica Curling Club (UCC), which operates one of the country’s premier curling facilities. Currently, all members of the United States Wheelchair Curling National Team are also members of the Sitrin STARS. The Team regularly takes part in national and international competitions and recently returned from two, held in Norway and Scotland. In 2008, the Team participated in the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Sursee, Switzerland, and won the bronze medal! The Team also participated in the National Wheelchair Curling Championships, held in Vancouver, B.C., and will return to Vancouver in March to take part in the 2010 Paralympic Games.

Golf

The STARS golf program is offered at Stonebridge Golf and Country Club in New Hartford. An adaptive golf cart is available for use by program participants. The STARS program also plays host to the annual First Swing/Learn to Golf seminar and clinic, sponsored by the National Amputee Golf Association and the PGA.

Paddling

STARS adaptive paddling is offered each summer to athletes of all ages and abilities. The program features several workshops presented by American Canoe Association-certified instructors, who train participants in proper adaptive paddling techniques and safety procedures.

Road Racing

Each year, the STARS program trains competitors for the Wheelchair Division of America’s biggest 15K road race, The Boilermaker. STARS athletes have also participated in and won the Boilermaker Wheelchair Challenge, receiving their own customized racing wheelchair as a prize.


STARS Shine.

Those who have participated in Sitrin’s STARS program have accomplished a great deal in the course of its brief history. Here are some highlights:

Championships


STARS Athletes have competed at World Wheelchair Curling Championships in…

  • Canada 
  • Switzerland
  • Scotland
  • Sweden
  • In 2006, two Sitrin STARS took part in the Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy
  • In 2008, the national team (comprised of four STARS athletes) competed in the 2008 World Wheelchair Championships in Sursee, Switzerland
  • In 2009, the national team (comprised entirely STARS athletes) participated in the 2009 World Wheelchair Championships in Vancouver, B.C.
Awards and Achievements
  • The 2010 U.S. Paralympic team is comprised entirely of STARS which will compete in Vancouver at the Winter Paralympics on March 12-21, 2010.
  • On November 4 three members of Team USA will appear on NBC’s Today Show!  Paralympians James Joseph, Augusto Perez, and Jacqui Kapinowski, will share their talents with a national audience as they provide a demonstration of wheelchair curling on the ice at Rockefeller Center. Their appearance will mark the 100-day countdown to the 2010 Olympic Games.
  • Sitrin STARS and Team USA member, Augusto "Goose" Perez recently won a gold medal for canoeing in the 2009 International Canoe Federation’s (ICF) Canoe Sprint World Championship in Nova Scotia.  This gold medal, coupled with others obtained over the past few years, qualified him for his recent induction into the National Canoeing Hall of Fame.
  • For the second year in a row, Team USA participated in an all-expense paid weekend trip to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center, September 17-20. Sitrin STARS Director Marc DePerno said it is rare for curlers to get ice time in September and he hopes that the additional training will lead to a Paralympic gold medal!
  • Team USA (all STARS members) won the gold medal at the 2009 U.S. Open International Wheelchair Curling Bonspiel.
  • Sitrin STARS and Team USA member Augusto “Goose” Perez was named male athlete of the year for 2008 by the United States Curling Association (USCA). Perez is the first wheelchair athlete to be selected as the association's athlete of the year in any category!
  • Team USA member Jimmy “Jam” Joseph was honored in the New York State Capitol by Senator Joseph Griffo. Joseph was selected by Senator Griffo as the recipient of a New York State Senate Achievers’ Award and was honored in the New York State Capitol on May 6, 2008.
  • Sitrin STARS member Vincent Bevivino received the Excelsior Award for Excellence from New York State Assemblyman David Townsend. Bevivino was honored on Disability Awareness Day held on June 3, 2008 at the New York State Capitol.
  • In 2008, Sitrin was named a United States Paralympic Sport Club, which is a nationally recognized community-based program developed to involve youth and adults with physical and visual disabilities in sports and physical activity, regardless of skill level.

  • Sitrin STARS and Team USA member Jacqui Kapinowski won a bronze medal in a wheelchair marathon race in Berlin, Germany, in the fall of 2008.

Learn more.

For more information about the STARS program or to inquire about a particular sport:

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