Aztec Adaptive Sports (AAS) is a registered student organization comprised mainly of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences majors. This student organization hosted its first event in April 2017 – the Aztec Adaptive Sports Colloquium. The AAS Colloquium was a huge success, with 150 students, faculty, administrators, and off-campus partners attending. The overall goal of the AAS Colloquium was to learn how SDSU can bring an adaptive athletics program to campus.
The AAS Colloquium kicked off with the debut of the AAS introductory video and moved to a panel of adaptive athletes and partners, pictured in the accompanying photos. Panelists included James Sa, a wheelchair rugby player who works for the Challenged Athletes Foundation; Jeff Odom, a two-sport collegiate and national level athlete and SDSU alumnus (class of 2015); Nicholas Rogers, Paralympic sprinter and potential student-athlete for SDSU; and Dr. Brett Guimard, the senior High Performance Healthcare Provider with the United States Olympic Committee.
Keynote speaker, Dr. Michael Cottingham, Director of Adaptive Athletics and Assistant Professor at the University of Houston, spoke on the importance of adaptive athletics and discussed ways such a program could be introduced and maintained at SDSU.
Armed with the tools and support, Aztec Adaptive Sports is excited to host a wheelchair basketball event in Fall 2017 and start the movement to bring adaptive sports to SDSU. ENS faculty member, Dr. Antoinette Domingo, is the faculty advisor for Aztec Adaptive Sports.
