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Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and said “You can do this!”? Whether it was a job interview, new shredding competition, first day of school, or meeting new people, doing something new always can use a little “pick me up”. That is no different than the people of the of Adaptive Action Sports (AAS). Founded back in 2005, AAS is a non-profit organization that brings shredding sports and disabled individuals together.
AAS is focused mainly on snowboarding and skateboarding and SheShreds Ambassador Colleen Daugherty is grateful to be part of such a great organization. Before she started ripping around with some really inspirational people, all it took was a simple introduction to get her involved.
Colleen attended the 2 day Rise Adventure WCMX World Championships in Grand Prairie, Texas back at the end of April. There she met up with a friend Matthew Hawkins who is apart of the Adaptive Action Sports Skate Team. From there, he introduced her to the rest of the Skate Team and everyone was very welcoming.
The Adaptive Action Sports Skate Team is made up of skating volunteers and teach adaptive athletes how to skateboard. With the challenges these athletes face, they are nothing short of being great role models in their respective communities by showing the world that there are no limits. Throughout the year, AAS gets together and have skate clinics for athletes of all ages across the US.
Some Team Members Include: Oscar Loreto Jr. from Downey California, Justin Beauchesne from St. Pete Florida, Andrew Hale from Frisco Colorado, Greg Shaw from Coco Beach Florida, Joel Goltry from Minneapolis Minnesota, Matthew Hawkins from Kansas City Mo, Quinn Waitley from SoCal, Jesse Swalley from LA California
On the Saturday of the weekend, it was the qualifying round for Adaptive Skate and WCMX, and all skaters were able to make the finals for the next day. In mean time, it was time to relax and Colleen was able to sit down and chat with some of the participants. She met competitors in WCMX Quinn Waitley and Kendall DeArkos, who were the raddest ladies she met.
The inspiration that these ladies exuded could make anyone believe they could accomplish anything they set their mind to. Proof of that inspiration was that they were competing in WCMX despite having multiple diagnoses and being the only ladies in the finals. Their performance in the finals was mind-blowing.
Kendall had told Colleen about her Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and they quickly created a bond with the disease. This touched close to home with Colleen because her best friend was diagnosed two years ago with EDS and affects her life greatly.
"It was really amazing to meet and connect with people who constantly overcome the odds and prove people wrong everyday", said Colleen of her great connection with Kendall.
On Sunday the finals were here for both WCMX and Adaptive Skating. WCMX finals were first and there were some huge tricks being thrown down, like backflips off the huge 15 foot ramp, handplants on the quarter pipes and even AAS Team Member Oscar doing an ollie over Quinn!
Adaptive skating was up next and Colleen was lucky enough to have VIP seating to see the event go down. Well sort of, she was catching boards that went flying down the stair set at one end. It was pretty cool to be within the competition up close.
Colleen said, "Watching the AAS athletes skate the ramps, just made me want to skate even more. They were doing tricks that I can't do and I told them they needed to teach me!"
At the end of the competition there were some great results, not just at the podium but in the obstacles that were accomplished during the weekend.
Note from Colleen: Thank you to everyone I met that weekend, you all are amazing and very welcoming. I have made so many new friends and connections. I can't wait to skate with you guys next time! Take care and I'll see you again soon. The skate community is family.
Visit Colleen's SheShreds.co Ambassador page and use promo code COLLEEN at checkout for an additional 10% off your purchase.
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