The Chicago White Sox held another in their Game Changers series on November 7, 2019.  Titled “Incorporating Inclusion and Accessibility Through Sports”, the panel primarily focused on how to give people with physical disabilities a way to participate and be part of the sports world.  Sheena Quinn, the White Sox Senior Director of Public Relations introduced the lineup of panelists, each of whom has an impressive background in the adaptive sports or sports inclusion.

The panel consisted of:

• Moderator—Joe Brand, WGN Radio Sports
• Cindy Housner, Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association
• Larry Labiak, Chicago Park District Disability Policy Officer
• Daniel Tun, Dare2tri Program Director and Co-founder

The impressive part of this conversation compared to so many that we hear, was that each of the panelists was more eager to tell us how they want to collaborate and work with other organizations.  Too frequently in this space, we hear organizations tooting their own horn and telling us only about their accomplishments and not how they want to work with other groups and the public.  This panel in particular stressed the important roles of students, educators, families and everyone involved in the sports world. Given the need for adaptive athletes to be housed within existing sports programs and facilities, collaboration and foresight are critical to providing a positive experience for these dedicated athletes.

There are dozens of studies and articles which highlight the important role sports play in our overall development, improving our mental health, as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  These factors are no less critical, and arguably more important for adaptive athletes.

Housner focused on how important it is to get the word out through the media. She stressed the benefits of the media exposure from events leading up to Tokyo 2020 and rebranding of United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.  While Housner feels Chicago is a very collaborative environment and community, there are many challenges to overcome.  She pointed out how state athletic associations have different standards and rules for athletes with disabilities.   She also noted the difficulties in accommodations because very few hotels have double accessible rooms, meaning if you travel with two adaptive athletes together (or an adaptive athlete and a coach or supporter), the hotels are telling one of the guests they are supposed to “sleep on the couch.”  She also made a plea for greater involvement and understanding from the medical community, especially in terms of how to teach this community of how to become and stay and physically active.

Tun arrived at the panel coming off Dare2tri’s successful fundraising event last week and carried that momentum into his presentation.  He stressed the importance of education and said that the increased profile from events such as the Chicago Marathon were crucial.  In response to a question about Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid, he felt the bid was a turning point to establishing more collaboration in the community.  Tun highlighted how geography is a significant barrier because so few adaptive athletes have access to peers or to a sufficient level of competition to make the participation a connection point like it for so many able-bodied athletes in their communities.  He gave the example of sled hockey, which is a popular sport, yet still has only two sled hockey teams in the entire state.  One of the challenges he highlighted was educating schools on what adaptive equipment might be available in their own community.  His closing challenge to the audience was that  he wants to see the able-body community doing a better job of reaching out to ask for assistance and getting more people involved with adaptive sports.

Perhaps the most passionate panelist was Labiak, who took every opportunity to share his excitement about all of the opportunities which are available and how we can improve access to adaptive sports.  He believes that many people have never heard of adaptive sports and too frequently lump adaptive sports together with events such as Special Olympics, ultimately doing a disservice to both sets of athletes, each of whom face their own challenge.    Labiak feels that there are far too few participants in adaptive sports, especially given the populations which we know exist.  He wants to see fellow students advocate for their peers because they are closer to the situation than parents or educators or administrators and can help the adaptive athletes get the exposure that they need.

Labiak felt that the 2016 bid was crucial because it helped put the spotlight on issues surrounding disabilities and brought leaders together. Ultimately, he believes that there needs to be more of a focus on awareness, knowledge and promotion. While sometimes parents hold a child back at the outset out of the fear that the child cannot compete, he also knows that ultimately the parents become the sales force and help take over some of the operations and fundraising tasks.

Among the challenges that Labiak sees are the difficulties in modifying old buildings to fit the needs.  In new buildings, he continually pushes and advocates to make sure that they use wider gates, wider doors, no center dividers between doors and plenty of accessible lockers and showers.  While he has seen a lot of progress over the last 10 years, he also recognizes that we are still facing many challenges.  He believes that progress is measured in decades, not in years.  He closed with a similar challenge issued by Housner and Tun—the importance of mainstream sports community reaching out an getting more athletes involved in adaptive sports.

Their insight captivated the audience who were treated to a great lunch by the White Sox and despite the frigid temperatures, the bright sunshine made it look like a beautiful day for baseball.  I encourage you to reach out to support these impressive organizations and their dedicated athletes!

Super Bowl weeks are always a very hectic time.  If you are associated with the business of sports, there are more events than you could possibly have time to attend in that period of time.  As you read through this summary, you will see the links embedded to the coverage of the various events provided by the Sports Philanthropy Network.

This past week in Atlanta, I was fortunate to participate in a whole variety of events giving me the opportunity to interact with a wide array of individuals from all across the country.

The weekend prior to the game, I was able to attend the NFL Experience at the Georgia World Congress with Kayla Bradham, who is joining the Sports Philanthropy Network as the VP of Community Relations.  We had the opportunity to go through the exhibits and explore the venue in a much less crowded environment than you would see later in the week.  One of the highlights was getting the chance to meet some of the team from RISE, Stephen Ross’ initiative getting its acronym from Ross Initiative for Sports Equality.  As the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Ross has put his name on many things, including the University of Michigan Business School, but this is one that could make an every longer lasting impact.

The first couple days of the week are quieter as the schedule ramps up in anticipation of the crowds heading into the weekend.  It was comical as the City of Atlanta prepared itself for a winter storm.”  The whole city was on high alert mode on Monday as it prepared for horrific conditions on Tuesday.  The TV weather broadcasts warned everyone of impending doom.  Schools were cancelled by Monday afternoon.  The end result?  A day with temperatures in the high 30’s and low 40’s.  A sunny afternoon.  Even the health club I managed to use to squeeze in a few workouts was telling me the facility might close because the weather could change.”

One of the most interesting parts of the week was the ability to get press credentials which gave me access to many of the official NFL events and the various summits and educational seminars around time.  It gave me some great insight into how the media work and the access they receive to all parts of the Super Bowl compound.

• WEDNESDAY: From my end, the week got kick started with a Women’s Empowerment Summit hosted by GladiatHers. Terrific messages from many powerful women. Well over 100 women attended and there were a surprising number of men also supporting the vision of GladiatHers.
• WEDNESDAY: From there, it was a quick run over to the Crucial Catch event held at the American Cancer Society HQ. A strong turnout of NFL representatives, team mascots, cheerleaders and former players led the way as the stations were set up to caution about various cancer risk factors and provide prevention suggestions.
• WEDNESDAY: The GladiatHers evening panel had some very frank conversations from leading women in the Atlanta sports community.
• THURSDAY: The Most Valuable Philanthropist event hosted by Champions for Philanthropy at the amazing venue called The Estate.” Honoring some terrific players who have made a great impact in their community, this event really set a strong standard for other philanthropic events to follow.
• THURSDAY: RISE held their Town Hall Meeting at the King Center with a star-studded and impressive lineup taking the stage to push for social justice and significant reforms in the criminal justice system.
• THURSDAY: Very impressive event at the Porsche Experience, sponsored by AWIS (Atlanta Women in Sports). A terrific turnout and many great women leaders took the stage to accept their awards and talk about their motivations and the impact they desired to make.
• FRIDAY: The NFL Man of the Year Community event was held at the Boys and Girls Club. Attended by almost all of the Man of the Year nominees, this event featured Roger Goodell working the shovel and wheelbarrow and setting the lead example of hard work.
• FRIDAY: George Washington University’s Sports Philanthropy program hosted a networking Happy Hour for the many professionals in town for the Super Bowl and received a strong turnout of people making their career in the sports philanthropy space.
• FRIDAY: A special treat was an invitation to dinner by NFL Hall of Fame LB Rickey Jackson and getting the opportunity speak to him and Eric Dickerson during a late dinner.
• SATURDAY: Leigh Steinberg, Nicole Fisher and the Brain Treatment Foundation hosted a Brain Health Summit as a prelude to Leigh Steinberg’s annual party. The Summit had an insightful panel discussion that examined the difficulties of addressing the concussion problems on a practical level.
• SATURDAY: Leigh Steinberg’s party hosted over 2000 people crammed into the venue and the highlight was Patrick Mahomes taking home some of the awards and showing off his strong presence and command of the audience. Later that night, he took home the Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, I did not get to stay for the game.  Aside from the ticket prices running well over $2,000, it was time to get back home after the two week trip for the Senior Bowl and the Super Bowl.

One thing that struck me as I walked around the streets of Atlanta during the week, was the dichotomy exhibited by homeless individuals asking for food or money, while literally a few yards away, party goers are entering into parties that whose tickets ranged in price from $200 to $1000+.   I haven’t seen any reports on the total amount spent on parties during the week, but you can bet it is a large number.

SMT Golf held a terrific promotional presentation at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Lemont, Illinois, on February 15, 2019.  Mike Tait does a terrific job of coming up with creative fundraising games and programs to help the organizations raise money for their particular causes. 

SMT runs over 300 events per year and Mike continues to come up with new ways to help the organizations secure more participation and make the events more fun for the golfers.

If you take a look at the specific games SMT puts together, you see that the organization can have a wide array of choices for their population. 

Over 50 event planners attended and were treated to a first-class lunch by Ruffled Feathers as they put out a great spread to showcase their event hosting capabilities.  Ruffled Feathers does a first class job at their events and you could easily see why it is a premier facility in the Chicago area.

If you are looking for innovative ideas for your golf event, SMT might have the answers.  While some may find the games gimmicky, only you can determine if they are a good fit for your golfing audience.  For your company outings and Chamber of Commerce type of events, I think their games fit pretty well.

However, if you host an event with a more serious contingent of golfers, their competitive spirit is unlikely to want to skip” playing several of the holes, even if the games provide the golfers with an artificially inflated scoring.

Most importantly, it is great to see golf season coming around the corner.  Winter has already been too long and we are anticipating even more snow ahead this coming week.