"From Play to Paralympics" is a comprehensive resource designed to help parents navigate the journey from playful beginnings to potential Paralympic achievements. This guide offers insightful strategies on how to encourage athletic interests, build confidence, set realistic goals, and find the right adaptive sports programs for children with special needs. With a focus on mindful parenting, the book provides practical advice and emotional support to help parents foster their child's physical, emotional, and social development through sports. Whether your child dreams of competing at the highest levels or simply enjoying the benefits of physical activity, this book is an invaluable companion on their athletic journey.
Introduce your child to the Paralympics--where physically disabled world-class athletes exemplify strength, determination, and courage. Lucas and Eddie, two physically disabled friends, visit the Paralympics and cheer on blind and physically challenged athletes as they compete in running, swimming, sitting volleyball, para archery, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair basketball, and more. Readers learn about some of the rules that expedite play and that even the playing field. For example, blind runners wear blindfolds so none of the competitors (some totally blind and some with limited sight) have an unfair advantage. Also, all of the blind competitors are tethered to guides. Author Igor Plohl, who lost the use of his legs after a spinal injury, is a teacher and passionate advocate for raising awareness of physical disability. As a teacher, he knows the questions children ask and how to answer them. A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
"An overview of the Paralympic Games featuring sports played by individuals and teams of athletes competing against each other ... Like the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games showcase super strength and skills [and] stamina and endurance, both individually and through teamwork"--
It's time to cheer for the inspiring athletes of the Paralympic Games! As the Opening Ceremony for the 1948 Summer Olympic Games commenced in London, a similar sporting competition was taking place a few miles away. But the men at Stoke Mandeville weren't your typical athletes. They were paralyzed World War II veterans. The games at Stoke Mandeville were so successful that they would eventually lead evolve into the Paralympics. Participants from all around the world vie for the gold medal in a variety of sports, including archery, basketball, swimming, speed skating, and ice hockey. Author Gail Herman highlights their achievements, describes how these athletes train--both mentally and physically--for the games, and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes the Paralympic Games one of the world's most viewed sporting events.
Telling the inspiring story behind the creation of the Paralympics, this biography combines archival photos, full-color illustrations, and a riveting narrative to honor the life of Ludwig Guttmann, whose work profoundly changed lives.
Sports participation opportunities for individuals with impairments are increasing. Whether an athlete is beginning a sport or competing on the world stage for a podium finish, nutrition is recognized as being integral to optimizing their health, training capacity, and performance. Some athletes with impairments are physiologically similar to their able-bodied counterparts, whereby the application of sports nutrition principles is straightforward. However, athletes with certain impairments require a very individualized approach when applying these principles in a practical way. Fully updated and expanded, this second edition of Sports Nutrition for Paralympic Athletes is an essential resource for sports nutrition practitioners who work alongside athletes with an impairment, whether that be physical, visual, hearing, or intellectual. In addition to chapters devoted to each impairment type, this book covers specific areas including medical considerations, body composition, supplements, and practical aspects that can be applied across all athletes and sports. Case studies and messages from athletes and world-class coaches enhance the application of theoretical research into practice providing the most relevant sports nutrition advice to Para athletes. Features New chapters on energy availability in Para athletes and cooling and hydration for the Para athlete Concise review of current sports nutrition recommendations for athletes, both during training and in competition Provides practical guidance and examples on how to apply sports nutrition principles to each impairment type Includes real life experiences of Para athletes, elite coaches, and practitioners Encompasses wider topics of assessing body composition, medical considerations, and supplement use specific to Para athletes Features insight and experiences gained by practitioners over the three major Paralympic Games since the first edition Sports nutrition can be the difference between being competitive and making the podium. With the rapidly increasing Paralympic profile, this book is valuable for professionals endeavoring to give their athletes the competitive edge - it challenges, stimulates, and drives future research in this area to continue to improve the delivery of this intrinsic component of athlete preparation.
Introduces the competition events at the Paralympics, including alpine skiing, sledge hockey, and wheelchair curling, and discusses how each event differs from its Olympic counterpart.
Meet Mallory Weggemann: a Paralympic gold-medalist, world champion swimmer, ESPY winner, and NBC Sports commentator whose extraordinary story will give you the encouragement you need to rise up to meet any challenge you face in life. On January 21, 2008, a routine medical procedure left Mallory paralyzed from her waist down. Less than two years later, Mallory had broken eight world records, and by the 2012 Paralympic Games, she held fifteen world records and thirty-four American records. Two years after that, a devastating fall severely damaged her left arm. But despite all of the hardships that Mallory faced, she was sure about one thing: she refused to give up. After two reconstructive surgeries and extended rehab, she won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships. And even better, she found confidence, independence, and persevering love. She even walked down the aisle on her wedding day against all odds. Mallory's extraordinary resilience and uncompromising commitment to excellence are rooted in her resolve, her faith, and her sheer grit. In Limitless, Mallory shares the lessons she learned by pushing past every obstacle and expectation that stood in her way, teaching you how to: redefine your limits remember that healing is not chronological be willing to fail lean on your community embrace your comeback write your own ending Mallory's story reminds us that we can handle whatever challenges, labels, or difficulties we face in life, and we can do it on our own terms. Because when we refuse to accept every boundary that hems us in--physical, emotional, or societal--we become limitless.
This brand new Handbook addresses Paralympic sports and athletes, providing practical information on the medical issues, biological factors in the performance of the sports and physical conditioning. The book begins with a comprehensive introduction of the Paralympic athlete, followed by discipline-specific reviews from leading authorities in disability sport science, each covering the biomechanics, physiology, medicine, philosophy, sociology and psychology of the discipline. The Paralympic Athlete also addresses recent assessment and training tools to enhance the performance of athletes, particularly useful for trainers and coaches, and examples of best practice on athletes' scientific counseling are also presented. This new title sits in a series of specialist reference volumes, ideal for the use of professionals working directly with competitive athletes.