Adapted Sports and Recreation Therapy

A range of adapted sports activities.

Sharp Rehabilitation Center's Recreation Therapy Department offers San Diego's most diverse spectrum of adapted sports activities for people with disabilities. Wheelchair basketball has been played since the 1940s, with paraplegic/amputee players using wheelchairs. But adapted sports are not limited to wheelchair basketball. Quadriplegics with even more limited muscle use have opportunities for adapted sports outlets.

Quad rugby.

Inventive athletes in Canada created "murderball" for paraplegics, where wheelchair-bound players carry a volleyball down a regulation basketball court and over the end line to score. It is a contact sport, with defensive players crashing their wheelchairs into the ball handler to force turnovers and prevent scoring. When the game migrated to the U.S., it became known as quad rugby.

Sharp HealthCare is committed to supporting and promoting this sport for quadriplegics. In 1993, the Sharp Shadow quad rugby team was created and went on to become national champions in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2009 and 2010. Today, the San Diego Sharp Wheelchair Rugby Team includes some of the original team members.

The quad rugby team travels to compete in California and in out-of-state play. For more information, please call 858-939-3048.

Adapted water sports.

Water sports and sunny San Diego go hand in hand. For decades, Sharp has opened up the world of adapted water sports to persons with disabilities. The Day on the Bay program includes adapted sailing, kayaking, waterskiing and tubing with the assistance of the Torrey Pines Kiwanis and Mission Bay Aquatic Center.

Other regularly scheduled adapted sports.

Socialization, exercise and sporting activities can often be a catalyst to long-term recovery. Sharp Rehab provides a variety of special recreation and sporting events designed to support each individual's well-being. Regularly scheduled classes include:

• Adaptive aquatics
• Adaptive golf
• Adaptive weight training
• Adaptive yoga
• Gentle Fitness exercise classes
• Wheelchair sports clinics
• Seasonal events also include adaptive snow skiing, adaptive waterskiing, sailing and Day on the Bay

Learn more.

For more information about Sharp's adapted sports programs, see the recreation therapy programs and classes schedule or call Rehabilitation Services at 858-939-3048.