Page 5 - MidWeek Kauai - Dec 1, 2021

Making The Ocean ‘Acces’-sible To All
FROM PAGE 4
opportunities for those with disabilities, and a big part of that includes those who want to compete at higher levels. It’s why the organization created the Hawai‘i Adap- tive Surf Team program in 2015. For the past six years, the team’s 20-25 members have competed all over the world, medaling at events like the Hale‘iwa Interna- tional Open, USA National Surf Competition, and the International Surf Associa- tion Adaptive World Cham- pionships. Coming up, a team of 12 will head to California to compete in the 2021 ISA World Para Surfing Champi- onship. AccesSurf was also instrumental in launching the Hawai‘i Adaptive Surfing Championships, an interna- tional tournament that hosts upward of 80 athletes from
(Above and top) Volunteers and participants enjoy a day at the beach Nov. 6 for AccesSurf Hawai‘i’s 15th anniversary celebration at Kualoa Regional Park. PHOTOS COURTESY 2SHRUGS, ACCESSURF
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around the world.
“We want people to know
that there is a path, there is support,” Short says. “If adaptive surfing is a sport that someone is interested in pur- suing, we can help them gain skills, and have coaching, leadership and mentorship.”
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In her 13 years with Acces- Surf, Short has seen tremen- dous change in the nonprofit that’s grown so close to her heart. The shift from volun- teer to program coordinator in 2012 and then to executive director in 2014 proved to be challenging for Short, but being part of an organization like AccesSurf has her feel- ing fortunate.
AccesSurf makes water and ocean activities, including paddling, available to everyone. PHOTO COURTESY 2SHRUGS, ACCESSURF
“The key to our success is our volunteer support,” adds Short. “They’ve made AccesSurf possible.”
For more information and full schedule of events, visit accessurf.org.
“I’ m so blessed to be able to have this be my job,” she says. “The experience of being the executive director has been an honor, and I’ ve learned a lot. It certainly makes me proud to be part of this community.
To keep its community engaged during the pan- demic, AccesSurf started hosting virtual events, like online exercise programs and classes to keep people in shape, as well as Talk Story Tuesdays, which in- corporates interviews with adaptive water athletes from around the world. A big part of these online endeavors is AccesSurf training and in- novation lead Ann Yoshida, who created the Fitness For All program that focuses on adaptable workouts.
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“Running a nonprofit at the best of times can be stress- ful, but in the last year-and-a- half, it has been a challenge. I’ve been impressed with our community and organization and how we were able to ad- just and still serve our mem- bers.”
“They’re all centered around water activities, like paddling, surfing or swim- ming,” explains Yoshida, a 2016 Paralympian. “I work with people and give them ideas of how to adapt each workout.”
A full list of online events can be fount at accessurf. org/weekly-virtual-meet- ings.
AccesSurf and its staff of six are bolstered by a vol- unteer base of nearly 1,000 — including its board, lead- ership committees, coaches, lifeguards, therapists and more — and the communi- ty at large whose members have been supportive in giv- ing of time and money to the grassroots nonprofit.
Hoku and Emma, COVID-19 survivors
HawaiiCOVID19.com/Vaccine
The FDA has authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 and above.