Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
Wheelchair Sports Program
Developed in 1987, the Rancho/Las Floristas Wheelchair Sports Program provides Rancho patients with the opportunity to participate in success-oriented, competitive wheelchair sports activities. With sports and activities geared to patients of all degrees of disabilities, the program reaches out to athletes with varying levels of disabling illnesses and injuries.
The Rancho/Las Floristas Wheelchair Sports Program aspires to assist each participant in the development of lifetime physical fitness behaviors, which can improve the overall quality of life and increase longevity. Not only does each section emphasize physical and skill development, but social and cognitive development are also emphasized. To this end, each participant must be attending and doing well in school. Seasoned athletes serve as role models/peer tutors for our younger or newly injured participants.
Many of Rancho’s wheelchair sports teams and athletes are among the best in the nation. More importantly, however, our athletes are becoming educated, goal-oriented, and productive members of society. Children from 4 to 12 years of age participate in the Youth Sport and Fun Section, where the focus is on fun and learning the basics rather than competition. Another important aspect of development for the children in this section is the evolution of teamwork, which they learn from watching and emulating the behavior of older athletes. The Adolescent Sport and Fitness Section serves young athletes from 13 to 17 years of age. Rancho’s teams have done extremely well over the years in this “Junior” category, where setting and reaching goals, competition and teamwork are the key aspects of the program. Many of Rancho’s athletes choose to remain in the program beyond their 18th birthday, continuing to play on the highly successful Adult wheelchair sports teams while serving as role models for the younger athletes.
Please Contact Us for more information:
Tiffany Yonemoto, Rancho Los Amigos Recreation Therapy Wheelchair Sports Program Lead
Telephone: (562) 385-6322
Email: tyonemoto@dhs.lacounty.gov
