Sports and the Physically Challenged: An Encyclopedia of People, Events, and Organizations

From the Publisher

"If you love watching, learning about, or participating in sports, you'll find something of interest in this encyclopedia. Entries cover champion athletes with disabilities, specialized equipment, organizations and sports ranging from fishing to murderball (quad rugby). Many of the entries read like short articles or stories, providing historical and bibliographic references. The hundreds of pieces in this volume add up to a very impressive account of the remarkable, imaginative world of sports for those with physical disabilities."

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Quest

"Wheelchair athlete Mastandrea and her sister, Czubernat, authored the 169 entries in this encyclopedia describing significant people, terms, events, and organizations in the history of disability sports. The volume opens with a timeline of firsts beginning with the 1870s participation of schools for the deaf in sporting events. The entries that follow are alphabetically arranged and contain from a paragraph to about two pages of information. Topics include the Americans with Disabilities Act, Blind Sailing International, the Paralympics and its precursors, U.S. Disabled Ski Team, and 10 types of wheelchair sports. This reference will be useful for students researching sports and the physically challenged and is appropriate for a general readership."

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Reference & Research Book News

"This encyclopedia does a fine job of compiling information that addresses the physically challenged and sports. Its main objective is to serve as a resource to help improve opportunities and access to sports and physical activity for all people with disabilities. It contains an alphabetical list of entries that cover people, sports, events, equipment, legislation, organizations, and more. Also offered are pictures of athletes in action and a disability sport time line. The entries contain short comprehensive overviews of the terms, with bibliographies at the end….This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in sports and the physically challenged. Highly recommended. Academic and public libraries; lower-/upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, two-year technical program students, professionals/practitioners, and general readers."

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Choice

"In addition to reading about remarkable athletes like Mastandrea, we can learn many things from the entries in this book. We can learn that the Italian game of Boccia is particularly useful for athletes with cerebral palsy and that blind athletes play a special version of baseball called Beep Baseball. We can learn of original games such as goal ball, wheelchair rugby, and sitting volleyball. We can learn the aims of a host of organizations such as Wheelchair Sports USA and the mechanics of technologies like Sip and Puff….This is a unique and very specialized reference work on a very timely subject matter. Both public and academic libraries should be interested."

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Reference & User Services Quarterly

"Sports and the Physically Challenged helps fill a void in literature and will be a valuable library resource for anyone involved in or interested in disability sport. Disabilities are wide-ranging and all of these forms are embraced within the text."

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Reference Reviews