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The Rancho Wheelchair Sports Program
Developed in 1987 at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, the Rancho Wheelchair Sports Program currently provides 45 of Rancho’s in and out-patients with competitive athletic opportunities. This program aspires to assist each participant in the development of lifetime physical fitness behaviors, which can improve the overall quality of life and increase longevity. Accomplished athletes with extensive education, training, and credentialing in the areas of Adapted Physical Education and Coaching, staff the program.
Not only does the Rancho Wheelchair Sports Program emphasize physical and skill development, but social and cognitive developments are also a focal point. To this end, each participant must be doing well in school and seasoned athletes serve as role models/peer tutors for our younger or newly injured participants. With sports and activities geared toward both the very young child through adult, the Rancho Wheelchair Sports Program has proven an effective mechanism for reintegration to society through athletic accomplishment as well as academic success. Numerous Rancho athletes have completed bachelor’s degrees and several have earned advanced degrees. Social work, machining, high school and college educators are among the many successful careers held by Rancho athletes.
Rancho Wheelchair Sports and Scholarship Programs are sponsored entirely through the generous donations of Las Floristas. Las Floristas Children’s Charities, an all volunteer organization, has been lovingly dedicated for more than 75 years to helping children and adolescents with physically challenges lead more productive lives, with more than 7 million dollars in donations. Through the affiliation of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and the USC School of Medicine, Las Floristas has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of children. Without the dedication of Las Floristas the wheelchair sports program would not exist.
Arena football, Tennis, Handball, Rugby, Hockey, Hand Cycling, and Over-the-Line are among the sports/activities that athletes in the Rancho Wheelchair Sports Program compete, but basketball has become a focal point in recent years. The Rancho Renegades Varsity Wheelchair Basketball team has qualified for competition at the national level for the past 15 years consecutively and finished as high as second.
Rancho athletes compete in the fallowing sports: