ASU and ATF celebrated their new partnership with a kickoff event
Arizona State University and the Adaptive Training Foundation kicked off their partnership with an obstacle course on April 20.
ASU staff, students and members of ATF formed teams for some friendly competition to demonstrate what this partnership is all about.
ATF is dedicated to helping those with life-altering injuries find life-fulfilling adaptive performance training.
According to their website there are already adaptive/Paralympic sports organizations but nothing that bridges the gap between basic functional rehabilitation and adaptive sport and that’s where they come in.
Natesh Rao is ASU’s athletic director and was able to speak on how and why the partnership came to be.
“We wanted to create an opportunity for us to broaden our horizons and get better as a University and be more innovative and with this organization we really have the chance to work together and create access, create opportunities, movement, and lifestyles,” Rao said.
Rao said that this is giving athletes, wounded veterans and people with physical disabilities a way to redefine themselves in a way they haven’t done before and that it empowers people.
This partnership started with a conversation Rao had with the founder of ATF and former NFL player, David Vobora.
When asked in why this partnership was important, Vobora emphasized how this partnership allows people gain perspective of someone who returned from combat or got in a traumatic car accident.
Vobora felt that since this is a school of innovation, then it is a natural fit that ASU and ATF partnered together.
Vobora hopes that this encourages students to come down to the SDFC, volunteer and engage with adaptive athletes because that’s how ATF has organically grown over the last three years and he emphasized that any student in any major can participate, they want the diversity of thought.
Brian Aft and Kristopher Biggs are longtime members of ATF and expressed their thoughts on the partnership and the kickoff event.
“This will benefit a lot of people in the adaptive, amputee, spinal injury, whatever the deal is, it will give them a legit place to come train and get healthy as possible,” Aft said.
Biggs was poking at the theme of this partnership by describing how he enjoyed the mentality change in his team during the obstacle course, “This isn’t about first place, all of us together see a different side of fitness, different limits,” he said.
Both of them said they were excited to see where this partnership goes and hope it urges students to come and mingle with adaptive trainees.
ASU students will be able to push their limits physically and mentally with ATF in the fall of 2018.
