Sports, Recreation and Leisure

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Sports and Recreation

The following links are dedicated to sports associations or recreation activities which are dedicated to or can accomodate people who are blind, sight-impaired or deafblind. It is recommended that you check with the service provider to ensure that all necessary accomodations can be met.

• The Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability (ALACD) promotes, supports and enables Canadians with disabilities to lead active, healthy lives. They provide nationally coordinated leadership, support, encouragement, promotion and information that facilitates healthy, active living opportunities for Canadians of all abilities across all settings and environments.

• The BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association (BCBSRA) is a not for profit association of individuals who are blind, sight-impaired, deaf-blind, or are blind with additional disabilities; and their families and other supporters. Services are provided throughout the province of British Columbia and are available to individuals of all ages.

• Canadian Blind Sports Association (CBSA) was founded in 1976 and is the recognized national sport organization for Goalball and advocate with expertise in blindness in the Canadian Sport System.

• The Community Recreational Initiatives Society  Adaptive Adventures (CRIS), based in Kelowna, unites volunteers with outdoor enthusiasts with disabilities, and using adaptive equipment, provide outdoor adventures that improve the quality of life for everyone.

• Curl BC is the provincial sport governing body responsible for the development, promotion and organization of curling in British Columbia. Curl BC is also responsible for the championship system that declares provincial representation at National events. In cooperation with its Members, Curl BC provides service to both competitive and recreational curlers, including a variety of adaptive groups, including the West Coast Blind Curling Association.

• Disabled Sailing Association of BC offers Sailing which is both accessible and inclusive. It allows people with disabilities to enjoy independence and freedom, whether as a recreational activity or a competitive high performance endeavor.

• The Disabled Skiers Association of BC The Disabled Skiers Association of BC is a registered Canadian Charity, working with hundreds of volunteers to provide opportunities for all persons with a disability to enjoy the freedom and therapeutic benefits of skiing and snowboarding.

• Eye of the Dragon is a Vancouver-based dragon boat team with a mix of blind, sight-impaired and sighted paddlers. This Dragon boat team, the result of the program offered through BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association is a sport where athletes who are blind or sight-impaired can compete equally with sighted peers. There are no adaptations made; everyone trains and races on a level playing field.

• Ski for Light, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit, organization founded in 1975. The goal of the organization is to teach blind, sight and mobility-impaired adults how to cross-country ski, in an atmosphere that encourages participants to recognize that they can usually accomplish much more, both on the snow and back home in everyday life, than others may have told them was possible.

  Each year Ski for Light, Inc. conducts a week-long event where blind and mobility-impaired adults are taught the basics of cross-country skiing. The event attracts upwards of 300 participants and guides. The location of the event changes from year to year in an effort to spread the Ski for Light philosophy and idea to as many parts of the country as possible.

  During the Ski for Light week each disabled skier is paired for the entire week with an experienced, sighted, cross-country skier who acts as ski instructor and guide. The disabled person skis in tracks or grooves in the snow, while the guide skis in a parallel set of tracks. The guide offers instructional tips and suggestions, support and encouragement, and describes the countryside.

  The blind and mobility-impaired adults who attend each Ski for Light week come from all over the U.S. and from several foreign countries. Many of them come to Ski for Light with a desire to become more physically active and fit, and to find recreational opportunities that are lacking at home. Most of these skiers discover, in the process of learning how to cross- country ski, that they can accomplish much more than others have told them, and much more than they themselves believed. They leave Ski for Light with a sense of accomplishment and motivation that carries over to every aspect of their lives back home.

  The volunteer guides who attend Ski for Light are a very special group of people. They pay the same event fees as disabled skiers so that they can share a favorite activity with someone who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate. Most of these guides discover that in the process of giving of themselves they are getting as much or more back in return. Many of them return to each event, year after year.

• Vancouver Eclipse Blind Hockey has a vision to give everyone in BC who is blind or sight-impaired the chance to play the great Game of HOCKEY! They are always looking for new players and new skaters to come out and join them.

• Western Canada Blind Golf Association develops and promotes the sport of golf for blind and sight-impaired individuals, both at the recreational and competitive levels.