A 21-Day Strategic Plan to Feel Great!

I am currently developing a program to implement with the athletes of the w/c tennis team, quad rugby team, and the power soccer teams.  I created this pamphlet (cover page, displayed here) to guide and motivate them to follow the program.  I want to find out if they really do see any difference in their energy or how they feel!!

  At the conclusion of this 21-day program, we expect paticipants to increase knowledge and improve behaviors related to healthy lifestyles, as indicated by the results of the instruments used. We expect participants to make personal lifestyle changes, by creating healthier routines and making them a part of their daily lives -- improving their athletic performance!

FREE Bike Repair Clinics!

FREE Bike Repair Clinics! --
  I am preparing to impliment the Sociable Tandem Cycle Recreation Program (STCRP) with athletes here... so I'm participating in the following workshops (as some "train the trainer" training).  I'll transfer this cycle maintenance knowledge to general Wheelchair Manintenance classes that I'll lead too.  These are the clinincs I'm going to....

Service Clinics:

Tires/Tubes/Flat Repair:
Stranded again with a flat tire? Don't let this happen anymore. Fixing your tire is easier than you think. Let us show you how to perform this simple repair and keep your bike rides rolling.

General Maintenance:
Learn the basics to keep your bike in shape and increase its life. This clinic will cover proper lubrication, cleaning, and minor brake/derailleur adjustments.

Drive Train Care:
Ghost shifting, slipping gears, broken chains? Increase the performance of your drive train. Chain cleaning, installation and removal, and derailleur adjustments are all covered in this clinic.

Wheel Truing:
Let us show you how to straighten a bent wheel. This clinics covers the basics of wheel truing and includes broken spoke replacement. This is a hands on class for all participants.

USQRA Season Games 11/20/2010

2010 Quad Rugby League Games
As you know, the game of quad rugby was originally developed (called Murderball) as a game that people with quadriplegia could participate in... (Read more on its brief description at http://quadrugby.com/qr-brief.htm)

All taped up and patiently waiting for the quad rugby matches to begin....

...on a cool foggy morning, teams arrive at the Sports Complex, to rumble 

Apologies for the lack of action shots.... I was orientating and ensuring that accurate records were kept by "volunteers in training" keeping score on the official USQRA score sheets.  Plus we played a few pick-up games where I, as well as one of the local w/c Tennis athletes with paraplegia participated!!!   

Oh... we cleaned the scuffs of the courts after the wheelchair rumble with Lift Off 2!!!  It removed rubber awesomely ; ) 

(Yes, those marks just above were removed after this shot:)

Berkeley Bionics: Introducing eLEGS

WATCH THIS!!  --  WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS... COMMENTS?



Berkeley - A company called Berkeley Bionics has launched a new product called eLegs. The wearable, artificially intelligent bionic device allows people who have lost function of their legs to stand and walk.

Berkeley Bionics makes exoskeletons that "augment human strength, endurance and mobility." Today the company announced its new eLEGS product which is based on early work at the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering lab.

Announced at a press conference in San Francisco today, eLEGS allow a disabled or paraplegic person to walk as though they have full control over their lower body. The company says its knee flexion technology is better than competing exoskeletons which translates into the most natural human movement available by robotics today.

“Many of the six million Americans who live with some form of paralysis today were highly active and at the top of their game when they sustained their injury," said Berkeley Bionics’ CEO, Eythor Bender. "As they research their options for increased mobility, they discover wheelchairs are pretty much it. This has been the only alternative – their only hope – for nearly 500 years.

Bender says eLEGS allow disabled people to stand up and walk for the first time since their injury.

The company says walking speed depends on the patient's aptitude and condition, but it's not impossible to reach speed of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). It can be made to fit most people between 5’2 and 6’4” and weighing 220 lbs or less, in minutes. In order to fasten oneself to the device, he or she uses Velcro straps, backpack-style clips and shoulder straps. eLEGS fits over the user's clothes and shoes.

The eLEGS exoskeleton is battery-powered and uses sensors within a gesture-based human-machine interface to determine movement. It pays attention to the gestures of the user and then attempts to determine the user's intentions by initiating movement. The company says a real-time computer monitors the sensors and input devices to coordinate every aspect of a single stride.

The device will first be offered to rehab centers to use under medical supervision, the company says, and clinical trials are set to start early next year in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298635#ixzz17Ghyq9DY


Hogg, C. (2010). Bionics: Introducing eLEGS. Digital journal. In the media. Berkeley. Retrieved Oct 7 2010 from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298635#ixzz14421yNMJ

League Day in December for Power Soccer of Indiana

...With a beautiful beginning to this Midwest winter day,

Duct tape fixes anything, in a pinch, even a broken foot rest...

 Today the referees were calling more two-on-one's than they had in the past--some teams were encouraged to "charge the ball", leading to groupings on the ball....

 In the picrture below, notice how spread out the white team is, this team's strategy seems to be to encourage each player to defend and maintain control of their area (i.e. left, center and right court); this type strategy does not lead to grouping on the ball, thus fewer two-on-one calls.... 

This athlete did her part to make the team whole--staying in the backcourt, protecting the goal--and enjoying every moment of the game....

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry