9 adaptive sports you can try right now

Connecting people with wildlife here on site
is arguably the most impactful thing we can do.
The power of a good zoo, to get
people to empathize with wildlife is incredible.
I became a zookeeper because I had a deep love and a deep passion for
animals. Ever since I can remember. It's something that I feel like I was born with.
We've put animal welfare first and
foremost above everything else - it's the best orangutan habitat in a zoo
anywhere in the world.
That's why we are here, we are here to
look after them and give them the best possible care ever.
So the animals here at Auckland Zoo receive an exceptional level of care
from dedicated keepers as well as our vet team.
So one of the ways we care for our animals here is through behavioural
enrichment which encourages natural behaviors while engaging their minds.
If people were more connected with nature and their environment,
people are going to become more and more passionate about wanting
to conserve the environment that we have. One of
my absolute favorite parts of my job is being able to be part of that connection.
I saw the the incredible potential of this place
and potential for taking zoo skills and save wildlife in the wild - that blew
me away. The skills that we have been practicing,
refining, perfecting for decades in zoos, are now
needed more than ever.
It's really important obviously to be monitoring how many pups are down at
Stewart Island. We want to know if the colony is
growing which would be, you know, great news for such a
threatened species.
So this underpass for elephants is
located here. Based on some of the tracking data that
was funded by the Auckland Zoo.
The only option really is
to learn to live with the elephants without conflict.
If we are successful in that we can coexist with elephants and we
can show the world.
I've learned skills within zoos that can
help wild populations and that's what I want from my career and able to
transfer those skills to a really threatened bird like the kākāpō made me
realize that everything i've done since becoming a
zookeeper has almost led me to this. When I went to vet school I wanted to
make a difference and now that i work at the zoo, that
difference I think is in conservation.
Conservation shouldn't just be for the scientists working in it. It's for
everybody to enjoy. So we're breeding mud fish because they
are an endangered species. They're from wetland areas which most of
our wetlands in New Zealand have been drained for pasture or urban use
so it's important to be able to breed these species in captivity
so that we can boost the numbers in the wild.
There's now less than half the wild animals in the world
that they were when I was born and I feel a
strong responsibility to do whatever I can during my lifetime to start to
reverse that decline and to start to learn how
to live with nature instead of trying to
dominate it.
We try to teach them about the conservation
because this is like a generation you know.
By teaching English and conservation to these children,
many of them can now look at careers as rangers or guides;
a great alternative to a low-income livelihood like working in palm oil.
So we are encouraging kids in schools today to become kaitiaki
of New Zealand's wonderful ecosystem.
We have a very, very important role to
play in inspiring and empowering the youth.
Having hands-on opportunities with Auckland Zoo has been amazing for our students.
They're all passionate about our
environment now and we are now an enviro-school.
The important thing for us is we don't think about us,
but we just think about the other people.
We think for the future.
Auckland Zoo's Conservation Fund supports the Sumatran Rangers
and the work they do in the buffer zone. It's here we get tension and conflict
with both humans and wildlife at risk.
For the last eight years now, we've been
working with the Centre for Conservation Research in Sri Lanka. It's as simple as
in order to save a species, you need to understand them and Pruthu and his team
have dedicated their lives to this.
So Auckland Zoo vet team have been
working with Kelly Tarlton's for the last eight years
helping with sea turtle rescue.
Ark in the Park is a partnership between Forest
and Bird and Auckland Council.
The annual kōkako
census is quite a lot of work. We go out daily
for eight to ten weeks.
It's been really great to have this relationship with the Department of
Conservation Kākāpō Recovery team.
I know our entire veterinary team here find it really really special.
I got into zookeeping thinking that it was all about animals but
in actual fact it's all about people.
The ideal zoo
is at the heart of any community.
We exist
because of the trust and the love of the people that come to our zoo
and we are incredibly grateful for that. Zoos on their own are not going to save
wildlife and save this planet but the people that visit
zoos, the people that connect with good zoos will.
you

Sailing was introduced at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games as a demonstration sport
before becoming a medal event at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
The sport is open to athletes with physical and visual impairment and the classification
system is based on four factors: stability, hand function, mobility and vision.
The sailors are classified with a sport class from 1 to 7 with 7 indicating the least severe
eligible impairment. The keelboats offer enhanced stability
and can be adapted according to the impairment. Athletes compete in three mixed gender events:
Event 1 is the 2.4 Norlin One Design, single-person keelboat – this is open to male and female
athletes with any eligible impairment. Event 2 is the SKUD 18, a two-person keelboat.
The crew should be made up of at least one female sailor. At least one of these sailors
has to be classified with 2 points or fewer. Event 3 is the Sonar –a three-person keelboat.
Any combination of male and female sailors.
The total crew is allowed a maximum of 14
points. No advantage is given to a crew with a total
of less than fourteen points. Each event consists of a series of up to 11
races – weather permitting. Sailors accumulate points according to their
position after each race, with one point for first, two for second and so on.
At the end of the racing, all the points except the worst score from each team are added together.
The winner is the sailor or the team with the lowest points total at the end of the
races – this is unique to the Paralympics unlike the Olympic Games where there is a
one-off final. Penalties are given for rule infringements
with the offending boats having to perform penalty turns before continuing around the
course marked out by buoys.

Invented in 1977, and originally called murderball, wheelchair rugby made its Paralympic debut at Sydney 2000.
The sport is played by mixed teams of men and women.
Players score goals by carrying a round ball across the opposition’s goal line
with at least two wheels of their wheelchair on the ground.
The field of play is a hardwood court measuring 28m by 15m.
There is an 8m goal-line at each end, marked by cones.
Teams consist of 12 players, with four allowed on the court at any one time.
Players all have impairments affecting their arms and legs,
and are classified using a points system measuring functional physical ability.
Each individual is scored from 0.5 up to 3.5 – the lower the number the greater the activity limitation.
The four players on the court cannot exceed a total of eight points.
For each female player on the court, an additional half point is allowed.
Defensive positions are usually played by low-point players, while attacking players often have higher points.
They can be distinguished easily by their wheelchairs.
Offensive wheelchairs are shorter, with small bumpers and rounded wings
so they can turn and maneuver through tight spaces.
Defensive wheelchairs are longer and have a wide bumper in front designed to strike and hold opposing wheelchairs.
Games consist of four 8-minute quarters.
If the game is tied at the end of regulation play, three-minute over time periods are played.
Teams have 12 seconds to move the ball from their court into the opposition’s half,
and 40 seconds to score a goal or they must hand over possession.
The player in possession must bounce or pass the ball within 10 seconds of receiving it.
To pass the ball, players may throw it, roll it, bat it, or bounce it. Kicking the ball is not permitted.
This is a full contact sport and clashes between wheelchairs are very much part of the game.
Hitting and blocking is used by both defensive and offensive teams,
to stop the ball carrier or to create openings for a goal.
However, dangerous contact, such as hitting a player from behind, is generally not permitted.
Wheelchair rugby is a fast and furious contact sport that makes for spectacular viewing.

My name is Henry Matthews and I am from Auckland
So I've been playing wheelchair rugby for...
twenty five years now
How did I start? I... Just from a guy through...
Through the um... spinal unit
You know, he says come along and have a go and I was...
Went up and had a look, I was in my bed and looked at him and said, you're crazy.
That's why I was like, you crazy guys, you know.
The things they were doing was unbelievable
You know the, um, as in the...
these guys smashing each other, falling out of chairs and...
these guys were crazy I was going like
you've broken your necks, mate, why would you go and smash yourself around like that?
I dunno, I just think, yeah that's the game, that's the game for me.
It's a game mixed in with ice hockey
um, ah, basketball
grid iron and handball
So um, yeah, it's been invented by the Canadian veterans
who just picked up the ball and started throwing it around and everyone started crashing into each other and...
oh, let's call this game murder ball!
You can have up to 12 people on a team but only
eight on a court, so four a side
and then subs is, like, it's got to add up to eight points
each person is graded on, um, muscle function
so it goes from a 3.5 is the highest
uh, grading, and the lowest grading from there down is the point-5 so,
I'm classed as a point-5.
I had my accident when I was 18
up in Matauri Bay, diving off a rock and didn't check how deep the water was
ah, and broke my neck
I ended up AC four, five, six, incomplete break
When I first ended up in wheelchair life was, took me two years to get used to my disability
Was so hard, umm... didn't really wanna go out
outdoors, just wanna stay inside
The first couple of years was denial
Why me?
um
Had a good job, and I was just on holidays
sigh it's just um, yeah, I was
in denial. No way
Like, I was fit, man.
Loved, loved my rugby, loved my league
And um, yeah, do something stupid is just,
Never thought I would, it would happen to me
So, um, I had to learn
To walk again, pretty much
To actually get up and, and um
you know, ah, actually get out there and try something and if it wasn't for
a couple of guys, and ladies who come in and talk to ya,
and say life is not over
unless you want it to be
ah, and if it wasn't for them, I don't think I'd be here today
The first two, the first year I was like what is going on here?
Like, excuse me? Like, I'd go into a shop
and ask for something and I'd have my caregiver with me
instead of asking me what I want they'll ask the caregiver
because they don't
they don't know what sort of disability I've got
They might think I've got a head injury or something
Yeah so those were the, sort of, the
ah barriers I had to overcome, a lot of them
Staring.
A lot of staring
Just a lot of that and, like
When I was, before I had my accident I actually used to
be scared of wheelchairs I didn't, didn't know what to say
so I know where they're coming from now
[So what do you say now to people that may feel like that?]
Oh, I just say to them please, man, talk to them. Don't be afraid.
I met Sue at the
through the Spinal Unit and um, yeah, she
if it wasn't for her, um, yeah
I don't know where I'd be, yeah.
Probably six feet under, I dunno
But um, she's been, we've been married for
21 years now, and um
I've been in a chair for 28 years
So yeah, a lot of love there
Um, I'd just like to say, um, you know
to those out there that
they're sitting at, in front of their TVs to get out and have a go at
at, uh, something they don't really know instead of staying inside
watching all the good
good movies and that and um, get out and get some sunshine
go out and get proactive
yeah there's plenty of time to sit in front of the TV
So a lot of people that
in wheelchairs, you know they can do anything
if you put your mind to it

Shooting joined the Paralympics at the Toronto Games in 1976.
Competitors use pistols or rifles to shoot at a static target from the standing or prone
position at distances of 10m, 25m and 50m depending
on the event. Due to their impairment, many athletes use
special equipment such as shooting tables and chairs or wheelchairs.
The target is made of ten scoring rings decreasing in value towards the outer end during the
qualification. The centre ring is the bullseye, worth ten
points. In most qualification events and all finals
the rings are sub-divided into ten decimal score zones.
Then the bulls-eye is worth 10.9 points. In air rifle events, the bullseye is only
half a millimetre wide - the size of a full-stop on a printed page

• requiring an incredible level of accuracy. Shooting is open for athletes with a physical
  impairment. There are three sport classes: SH1 Pistol,
  SH1 Rifle and SH2. In both SH1 classes, athletes can support
  the weight of the firearm by themselves. SH1 (Pistol) athletes may have arm or leg
  impairments, whilst SH1 (Rifle) athletes have leg impairments only.
  SH2 athletes compete in rifle events only,
  and have an arm impairment that requires them to use a shooting stand to support the weight
  of the rifle. This shooting stand is fitted with a spring,
  to create movement of the rifle that the athlete has to work hard to control.
  In the qualification round athletes fire a given number of shots in an allotted time
  depending on the event. For example in 50m rifle prone , athletes
  fire 60 shots in 50 minutes. The best eight athletes in each event qualify
  for the final. Most finals consist of two stages; competition
  and elimination. Eliminations of the lowest scoring finalists
  begin after the eighth shot and continue after every two shots until gold
  and silver medals are decided in an intense shoot-off between the remaining two athletes.
  With such an incredible level of accuracy required, this sport is all about co-ordination,
  balance, control and precision.

so
away
came away slowly
the back half of the race very well then
ryan's got a matcher and it's tight
all right
1640 with his first attempt
oh that's huge
wait a minute what's he done here
and muhammad zarcathley 26 year old from
kuala lumpur
this is
it's a big lead it's a cute
is
oh she just might do it that's well out
there
it's a fair throw
but she's not kidding here
can she be the first pass
8 40
8 meters 40 that's worth a dance
again
for the same
oh
so
is
morris
was on the inside that was starting to
battle as we have a look at the closing
stages brannigan has wand's tone but
look at
this ease down near the line and daniel
text just got him right
you

My name's Aaron Ure, and I'm the coordinator for the Avantidrome Community Trikes programme
here at the Avantidrome in Cambridge
The emphasis of the programme is to give
people the opportunity to get up and get riding again
Some of our riders haven't ridden for 50 years
and some of them haven't ridden at all
And it's to give people that opportunity to
take charge of one area of their life and say
I wanna do this
and to give them every opportunity to succeed in doing it
The thing that I see, and that's important for me as a trike rider
and the thing that I hear back most often
from our riders is that
for them the important thing is, they have control
They choose to come here and they choose to ride
and they
they actually take control of that area of their lives and that always comes back from them
I did X amount of kilometres today, and
the statements always begin with 'I', it's not what somebody else thinks
I did this today
or I achieved that today
I went under the bar today
And I think that's why it's so important
because it actually empowers people and gives them back that sense of choice
and accomplishment in their lives
Coming here, with the veledrome
with the Big Chief, with Aaron
has been very supportive for us, both my wife and I
[Why has this been so good for you?]
Fitness
Ah, keeps you motivated
My passion is coming here
we come here once a fortnight
my husband and I, we have fun
There are times we go down in health
and ah, we still pick ourselves up
A lot of people that wouldn't be able to exercise
can come and do this and
as you can see, no legs no arms
makes no difference you can come and cycle
There's bikes built for everybody if you can't sit up you can lay down
It's made a difference I think, like um
just in my walking and just
feeling better about yourself
um
yeah and I just think I've got fitter during the year and a half, two years
which I think makes a difference somehow
I can't quantify it exactly but it just makes a difference, you feel better
and learning a new skill is good for the brain
I've done
21 k's
just, at the weekend
yeah
I just enjoy it
[it's just good fun] yeah
It started with just a small group of us four or five of us that
all came in, were either post stroke, myself with spinal damage another lady with balance
and another stroke client
And we just wanted to ride we just
We just wanted to get off walking frames and sticks
and just being able to ride was such a relief for us
And from there it just kind of snowballed within a year
we'd gone to, um
holding the programme two mornings a week
and then three mornings a week and then two groups a day
until last year
we serviced five thousand rides just on trikes last year
Some days, life is more difficult than others
some days you just don't wanna get out of bed, and
you actually don't wanna be around people
but
my choice
is that I always feel better after
and so I make the choice to, yes I am going to do this today, yes I am going to be here
And of course, you know for myself and the other coaches
what we get back
and our volunteers, who are so important what we get back
is so much more than what we give out
we may put somebody on a trike and get them riding
but the look on that person's face and the sense of gratitude from them
um, is way beyond whatever input we put in

Road cycling made its Paralympic Games debut at the New York/ Stoke Mandeville 1984 Games.
Track cycling joined the Paralympic programme 12 years later, in Atlanta.
In road cycling, athletes compete on bicycles, tandems, handcycles and tricycles.
Tandems are used by athletes with visual impairments (known as stokers),
who sit behind their sighted pilot.
Handcycles are used by amputees and paraplegic athletes.
There are five different sport classes.
Lower numbers indicate a more severe activity limitation.
Athletes with impairments affecting their balance and co-ordination ride a tricycle
to increase stability.
The lower the class, the greater the loss of co-ordination.
Other athletes ride bicycles, which are often modified for prosthetics.
They compete in five sport classes: C1-C5.
The lower the number, the greater the activity limitation.
There are three types of race: road race, individual time trial, and team relay.
Road race distances vary from 30km to 120km depending on classification and gender.
All cyclists start together and the winner is the first to cross the finish line.
Time trials are a race against the clock, with cyclists leaving the start ramp individually,
and the rider recording the fastest time winning.
Time trials are 20-35 km.
Team relays are for handcyclists only.
Teams are composed of three athletes from different sport classes (H1 to H5)
and can be mixed men and women.
In track cycling, athletes compete on tandems or bicycles, and there are three types of
races: time trials, pursuit and team sprint.
Time trials are completed individually over 500m or 1km, with the fastest time winning.
The individual pursuit is raced over 3 or 4km, with athletes starting on opposite sides
of the track.
The winner is the athlete with the fastest time or the one who catches up with their
opponent.
The team sprint is disputed over three laps by teams of three cyclists.
Each team member must lead for one lap, before leaving the race.
Paralympic cyclists will put on a thrilling show of lung-busting endurance,
explosive speed and tactical intelligence.

udo is derived from JuJutsu, the ancient hand-to-hand combat of samurai warriors.
Men’s Paralympic Judo first appeared at the Seoul Games in 1988 with women’s events introduced in 2004 in Athens.
Matches are fought on a ten by ten mat known as the “tatami”.
Practitioners are called Judoka - their ultimate aim is to achieve Ippon, which gains the maximum score and guarantees immediate victory.
This can be done by forcefully throwing your opponent on their back,
by gaining submission from an arm lock or strangle hold,
or by immobilising them for 20 seconds, which is called an ossae – komi.
If no Ippon is achieved, the contest is won by the Judoka who scores the most points through a variety of different holds and throws.
All the athletes have a visual impairment.
To be eligible, athletes have less than 10 per cent vision remaining or a visual field restricted to 20 degrees
Athletes who are completely blind are identified by a red circle on the sleeves of their Judogi.
Competitors who are deaf have a yellow circle.
Athletes compete in weight categories independently of their visual impairment.
Paralympic Judoka have contact with their opponent before each contest begins
and the referee warns competitors when they are nearing the edge of the mat.
Each match lasts five minutes for men and four minutes for women unless Ippon is achieved.
If the scores are tied at the end there is a “golden score period” with no time limit where the first score of any kind wins.
Paralympic Judoka require expert technique, balance and focus so they can resist their opponent’s attack and launch their own.

Get out there and live life to the fullest
That's my motto
Never give up, really. That's
one of our, um
the mottos of our karate club the last thing is
never give up
I think that's the easiest thing
um, and that's where your brain
your mind comes in
It's so easy to stop because things get hard
but if you push through that barrier
you can achieve so much
I don't kick, of course
um
well I do but people just don't see it, it's that fast
As I say to people, you've never blocked one of my kicks, you never will
When people are doing kicks I just carry on punching, so um,
We might do 500 kicks
and then 500 punches so I end up doing 1000 punches
We do patterns, so I try to get my wheelchair moving the same as someone would walk or move
You turn to the left, I turn to the left, you turn 360, I turn 360
We do have a form where there's a jumping kick but I don't do that, I
may do a wheelie, spin round and... I try and
emulate what people are doing
So if they kick I'll do a hand technique instead
Um, when I fight people,
they've got the advantage that they only need to watch my hands
or if I'm using my wheelchair,
just one hand, 'cause my hands will drop
I broke my back
Up til the age of 10 years, 10 months and two days I ran around, I was just
like any other kid
ah, we were on holiday in Scotland and my parents told my brother and I not to go near this cliff
So like really good boys we decided we'd try and climb it, and
unfortunately, when I was on the way down, the cliff
gave way
Ended up breaking my back and spending nine months in Stoke Mandeville Hospital
In those days that was like the, um, number one spinal unit in the world
and I was there for nine months, and
really feel that those nine months, when I left I was
really well
rehabilitated to, ah, spend the rest of my life, um, pushing myself around in a wheelchair
From England to New Zealand
I came out from New Zealand in...
sorry from England to New Zealand in '74
and, ah
took up paraplegic sport over here
I'd been doing some in England
and then in '76 started doing karate
found a club that would teach me, and I've been doing karate ever since
Teaching Kick
Teaching people, I do a lot of talking to explain so I'll tell you to have your feet shoulder-width apart
weight 60 percent on the ball of your feet, things like that
or I'll have people I'll call as my stand-ins, my
leg dummies or whatever and I'll get them to demonstrate a kick
Um, I think the, the buzz I get it just
seeing the kids respond with me
We have about 20 kids sometimes training and it's great
They forget I'm in a wheelchair, which is really good
[We've only got to do 10, I want your knees over your big toe. Bend your knees]
Nice feedback, just watching them try
and um, it's, it's
it's just something being able to empower people, giving them that skill to do things
Biggest Barriers
The biggest barrier's the person themselves
I've seen lots of cases where someone has been born with a disability
and as they've grown, they've learnt that there's support for them
and they, it's like a learned dependency on people
and people always running after them, helping them
which is good, but sometimes they've
they've disempowered them by giving them too much help
Um, I think it's good to be there but to help them, not to
not do everything for them but give them the skills to help themselves
[Use your body weight to generate the power]
[make sense?]
I can't think if there's anything I've wanted to do that I haven't been able to
I'll always find a way to do something
and that's the great thing
and it's having the confidence as well to ask
I know some disabled people
they sometimes don't want to ask and they will struggle
whereas I think if I can give them a bit of skills
they will not struggle so much or have the confidence to ask
and again, that's where my martial arts has given me that strength of mind