Linn County to hold adaptive sports clinic

HIAWATHA — Linn County Public Health will hold an adaptive sports clinic this weekend under the banner of athletics for all.

The county’s first Adaptive Sports and Recreation Inclusive Wellness Clinic will run 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Hiawatha’s Guthridge Park. The event is free and open to the public regardless of age or ability status.

The clinic will focus on introducing attendees to adaptive sports, or those that are modified or specifically designed for participants with various physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities.

“There’s no limitations,” said DoniRae Mayhew with Linn County Public Health. “It’s not just specific to people in wheelchairs or people with walkers or amputees. We want it to be a very inclusive environment for everybody.”

The event is facilitated by Linn County Public Health and hosted by the Adaptive Sports and Recreation and Inclusive Wellness Coalition of Linn County, a coalition of county organizations dedicated to recreation and wellness.

Clinic attendees can try out a variety of adaptive sports including baseball, dance, golf and more. There also will be educational opportunities around area social services, accessibility resources and additional programming.

For example, participants will have the chance to learn about the all-terrain wheelchairs now available free of charge at both Indian Creek Nature Center and Linn County Conservation’s Wickiup Hill Learning Center.

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The outdoor wheelchairs are engineered with treaded tires that allow for enhanced grip and stability to allow users to go over gravel, mud, grass, snow, hills, mulch and other uneven surfaces that typical wheelchairs wouldn’t be able to cross.

“A lot of people don’t even know there are adaptive sports or opportunities like this near them, so they feel like they have to give up parts of their life,” Mayhew said. “That’s what’s so important about an event like this.”

The event also will include a selection of food trucks and prize raffles. For more information, visit the Linn County Public Health website at bit.ly/LinnCoPublicHealth.

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