Dreams Come True
Dreams Come True is a new initiative that focuses on the specific needs of participants. It begins by talking and surveying each participant before they participate in one of our programs. We ask them about their goals and objectives. We ask them about their dreams and aspirations. We discover what sports, recreational, or artistic activities they want to learn or do. We then engage the resources of Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, volunteers, businesses, professionals, and the community to make their dreams come true—no matter what it takes! (more...)
(Aaron Coates)
(Grant Swindle)
(Lia Haile)
(Matt Houston)
(Luke Wilson)
(Andy Vo)

Higher Ground (Veterans Program)
In partnership with Department of Defense and major military medical centers around the country, higher Ground serves recently injured American Service members who have been severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The purpose of higher Ground is to use sports and recreation as a means of healing and therapy. The program offers two winter snowsports camps, two summer adventure camps, and weeklong customized events serving more than 40 Service members and their significant others each year. The goal is to build physical skills and self-confidence, and to provide a fun, healthy, and meaningful experience, so the Service members can more easily transition into their new lives in their home communities. (more...)

The results are improved relationships with families, peers, and their communities, improved performance at work and school, and increased ability to “I learned to fly fish! Higher Ground showed me I no longer have to hide…I also learned skills that will help me reconnect with family… and the self-confidence I need to feel more confident in my community.” Sgt. Luke Wilson, Army cope with their disability and combat related stress. The goal for the coming year is to explore ways to increase program capacity to significantly increase the number of Service members we can serve. (more...)

Fresh Tracks (Winter Snowsports))
In partnership with the Sun Valley Company and Sturtevants, fresh Tracks serves students and adults with all types of disabilities who live in Blaine County. It also serves people who visit Sun Valley in the winter. The program offers instruction in the areas of skiing, snowboarding, nordic skiing, sled hockey, snowshoeing, and ice skating. The purpose of fresh Tracks is to provide one-on-one instruction to increase a participant’s ability to a level where he or she can enjoy snowsports activities at or near the same level as his or her able-bodied peers.

Last winter, through extremely generous gifts made by The Sun Valley Company and Sturtevants, we were able to offer season passes and complete equipment packages for only $80 per student. We served 54 children from the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind and 14 children from Camp Rainbow Gold. We also served a group of adults with traumatic brain injuries from Twin falls. Overall, we served 135 participants. The goal for this winter is to train more instructors and volunteers how to teach adaptive snowsports.

PACK - Peak Adventure Camp for Kids (summer)
In partnership with ketchum parks and Recreation Department, Mountain Adventure Tours, YMCA, and many others, PACk consists of two summer day camps serving 30 local children and teens. nine summer staff and a dozen volunteers provide sports and recreational activities so participants can enjoy summer activities without having to travel to camps outside the county. Camp is free to all participants. This provides opportunities for families to send their child to camp who would not otherwise be able to afford it.

This summer, the number of participants increased 50 percent, but we still had a waiting list. participants take part in activities such as rock climbing,tennis, swimming, ice skating, biking, rafting, camping, and much more! The camp regularly travels outside the area to expose participants to places such as the Boise Zoo, Redfish lake, Craters of the Moon, and the CSI planetarium. PACK often host activities that includes interaction with able-bodied peers. This summer, we had children who learned how to swim or ride a bicycle for the first time! for some, learning to tie their shoe laces made camp a huge success. PACK runs 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, for 10 weeks. Our goal for next summer is to find ways to get all qualified children involved, so we don’t have a waiting list.

BLAST - Blaine County After School Team (fall and spring)
This after school program serves schoolchildren and teens with disabilities. The purpose of BLAST is to provide fun, stress-relieving activities for participants who've just finished a long, hard day at school. BLAST keeps participants engaged in activities while their able-bodied peers play team sports or attend club activities. Program activities include swimming, theatre, biking, tennis, pottery, yoga, and indoor rock climbing. BLAST will run 5 days a weeks for 10 weeks during spring and fall.

Get Out and Go! (Social Outing Program))
Get Out and Go! serves local teens and adults with various physical or developmental disabilities. It also serves local residents with Multiple Sclerosis. The purpose of the program is to create a fun, social outing environment to help adults develop physical and social skills through sports and recreation. Get Out and Go! also helps adults develop self-confidence by combining new skills with social-growth and cultural activities. Activities include skiing, bowling, movies, theatre performances, theme dinners, gallery walks, game nights, and much more! Get Out and Go! meets once a week in the evenings for 10 weeks during spring and fall. This year, 14 adults participated in the program. Our goal for the coming year is to assemble and train two Special Olympic teams; one for bowling and one for skiing.

Rink Rats-Sled Hockey (winter)
Children and adults have a chance to use one of our 10 hockey sleds at a local outdoor ice rink as part of our Fresh Tracks programming. These high-performance hockey sleds offer fun and smiles to all.

"We Share" Cycles (spring thru fall)
Our high-performance adaptive bicycles and tricycles are available for private use at no charge. If needed, a therapist or assistant is available to offer instruction or assistance.

Special Olympics (Bowling and Skiing) SVAS is now sponsoring two Special Olympic teams – bowling and skiing. The bowling team rolled to a great start with three first place wins and two second place wins in its first competition last fall. The team practices once a week at a local bowling alley after eating heaps of pizza at a local pizzeria. The alpine team is preparing to compete in a regional competition in February in hopes of qualifying for the 2009 World Winter Games that will be held in Boise and Sun Valley in February 2009. Our Special Olympic program is our newest program, but we have high hopes of building it into one of our strongest. We’re always looking for eager volunteers who can coach and travel – so if the spirit of competition and laughter stir your heart, call us.

Whether it’s a child in our day camp or a wounded service member attending a snowsports camp, SVAS is committed to enriching the lives of these people. This means using sports and recreation to build physical skills, confidence, and courage, but also to inspire belief in self and hope. If we are successful, our participants will have improved relationships with their family, peers, and community; they will perform better at work and school; and they will have fun learning sports and recreational activities they can enjoy for a lifetime. Our future plans for 2008 include:

• Continued collaboration with local therapists and social workers to provide a unified strategy of therapy for participants.
• Commitment to helping more people with disabilities regionally. This means helping people in Shoshone, Gooding, Fairfield, Carey, Richfield, and Twin Falls.
• Deepening relationships with military medical installations to better serve severely wounded service members.
• Explore the possibility of leasing, building, or acquiring a building to establish a large-scale adaptive sports center.