The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), established in 1997, assists, supports, and provides opportunity to people with physical challenges, so that they can lead active lifestyles and compete in athletic events. It is founded in the belief that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life. The Foundation does this by providing funding for training, competition,

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

, and

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tools or other objects commonly used to achieve a particular objective. Different job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and ...

for the challenged athletes. The Challenged Athletes Foundation is divided into four different programs: Access for Athletes, Operation Rebound, Catch a Rising Star, and Project N.Ex.T., all of which focus on the betterment of disabled athletes, but vary in their target group. Access for Athletes is the flagship program of CAF.

History

Challenged Athletes Foundation was founded in 1997 in response to below-knee-amputee endurance racer

Jim MacLaren James E. MacLaren (April 13, 1963 – August 31, 2010) was a motivational speaker and author, noted for his record-breaking performances in the marathon (sport), marathon and Ironman triathlon after having his left leg amputated below the knee. M ...

who suffered an accident while competing in a

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

. In June 1993, while competing in a triathlon in Orange County, California, MacLaren was on his bike when a van went through a closed intersection, hit the back of the bike and propelled him into a pole. When he arrived at the hospital he was told that he was a quadriplegic and would never move again from the waist down.

Programs and Events

Programs

The following are programs which CAF offers or supports: *Access for Athletes – this is CAF’s flagship program. It provides funding for equipment, training and travel expenses. In 2011, Access for Athletes satisfied 980 funding requests from challenged athletes in 45 U.S. states and 22 countries. The grants, totaling more than $1.4 million, were used by recipients – of all ages, from beginners to elites – to participate in 47 different sports. *Catch a Rising Star – is a program that provides fun, interactive, nurturing clinics – led by recognized experts and authorities – that provide instruction in basic sports skills. These clinics, which include mentoring from elite CAF athletes, allow participants to develop the confidence and self-esteem required to reach their individual goals. In 2011, CAF held 23 clinics and camps across the United States, reaching 495 physically challenged athletes. *Reach High – is a program provides information, resources and opportunities to people with physical challenges, enabling them to make informed decisions about health, lifestyle and medical choices. The program also raises awareness within the broader community about the abilities of athletes with physical challenges. *Operation Rebound – CAF is a member organization of Operation Rebound, a sports and fitness program for American military personnel, veterans and first responders with permanent physical disabilities. In 2011, CAF Operation Rebound provided 240 grants injured troops and first responders and supported an additional 80 individuals through its Military Medical Center Physical Training Program and CAF events. *Project N.Ex.T. (New Expectations Today) – is a three-year San Diego County pilot program that connects physically challenged mentees with similarly challenged mentors. By educating recently injured or inactive individuals about available fitness and sports opportunities, we believe we can create better and more consistent outcomes for Project N.Ex.T. participants.

Events

The Challenged Athletes Foundation holds a number of high-profile fund raising events in order to raise money to support disabled athletes to compete in sports. These include CAF events the San Diego Triathlon Challenge; Million Dollar Challenge; Heroes, Heart and Hope Gala held at the

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, Hawaii Revisited; Tour de Cove; Rock on the Green and numerous other events under the banner of Race for a Reason.

Athletes

The Challenged Athletes Foundation has enabled a number of disabled athletes to get to the starting line. Amongst these are

Sarah Reinertsen Sarah Reinertsen (born 22 May 1975) is an American Paralympic triathlete and former track athlete. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder; her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven. Early athl ...

who was the first female leg amputee to complete the

Ironman Triathlon World Championships The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

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and a

World Marathon Challenge World Marathon Challenge is a multievent marathon competition that involves completing seven full run marathon races on seven continents in seven days. History The first World Marathon Challenge was held in 2015, beginning in Antarctica on Janu ...

Finisher. Other well-known challenged athletes include: *

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah is a Ghanaian athlete and disability rights activist from Koforidua. Yeboah was born in 1977"One-Legged Cyclist Transforms African NationABC News retrieved 22 February 2010 with a severely deformed right leg.''Emmanuel's G ...

Rudy Garcia-Tolson Rudy Garcia-Tolson (born September 14, 1988) is a Paralympic swimmer, runner and triathlete from the USA. He was born with popliteal pterygium syndrome, resulting in a club foot, webbed fingers on both hands, a cleft lip and palate and the inab ...

Evan Strong Evan Strong (born November 13, 1986) is an American Para-snowboard cross racer who began his career in 2008. He is the gold medalist in para snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia and led the USA team to a sweep of the p ...

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Haven Shepherd Haven Shepherd (born March 9, 2003) is a Vietnamese-American Paralympic swimmer. In 2018, she was included on the BBC 100 Women list. Early life Shepherd was born Do Thi Thuy Phuong in Quang Nam province, Vietnam after her parents had an affai ...

Hunter Woodhall Hunter Woodhall (born on February 17, 1999) is an American track and field athlete. He won a bronze medal in the Men's 400m T62 at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. On 16 October 2022, Woodhall married his longtime girlfriend, Olympian Tara Woodhall. ...

Patty Collins A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. In British and American Engl ...

Kelly Ray Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

Breezy Bochenek ''Breezy'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Robert Daley, and written by Jo Heims. The film stars William Holden and Kay Lenz, with Roger C. Carmel, Marj Dusay, and Joan Hotchkis in supporting ro ...

Alex Parra Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

Ezra Frech Ezra Frech (born 11 May 2005) is an American Paralympic athlete who competes in high jump, long jump and sprinting events in international level events. He is a double silver Parapan American Games medalist and is also a motivational speaker ...

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.challengedathletes.org Non-profit organizations based in California Non-profit organizations based in Florida Parasports organizations Disability organizations based in the United States