By Tyler Raley
Photos by Dawn Harrison & Kelsea Schafer
National competition was brought back to Shelby County for another year as the Hartford Nationals hosted numerous competitions from July 12-18. Hosted by Move United, The Hartford Nationals provides an opportunity for athletes around the country with physical, visual or intellectual disabilities to compete against each other and show off their skills in a variety of sports, including archery, para powerlifting, paratriathlon, shooting, swimming, track and field and wheelchair tennis.
The competitions were held at various local venues around the area, including Spain Park High School and Oak Mountain State Park. The 67th edition of The Hartford Nationals was the second in a row to be held in the city of Hoover, but the third time it has been hosted overall along with the 1996 edition.
Move United’s communication manager Shuan Butcher was once again very pleased with how the festivities turned out this year, knowing it was important for everybody involved.
“The second year is obviously easier because we’re returning, we’re repeating,” Shuan says. “I can’t say enough good things about the city of Hoover and our other partners like the Lakeshore Foundation. They’ve really helped elevate the event and really stepped up a notch in terms of not only laying out the red carpet for our athletes and for the athletes competing and coaches and parents and families, but [also] have been great partners to work with.”
A national leader in adaptive sports, Move United is a nonprofit organization whose sole mission is to ensure that every person–no matter his or her ability–can experience playing sports and the power such recreation enables a person to have. With 242 member organizations in 45 states, Move United helps more than 120,000 individuals to not only play sports, but also become better intertwined with their communities, fostering fellowship between people of all abilities.
In her interview with Shelby Living Magazine editor Anna Grace Moore, the city of Hoover’s events manager Kelly Peoples says Hoover felt honored to host several of the competitions.
“While watching the athletes compete was fun and exciting, I think the opening ceremony was my favorite event,” Kelly says. “The Parade of Athletes—each state comes in alphabetical order—was special. Seeing hundreds of athletes with physical disabilities coming in together and cheering for each other was amazing. Most of these athletes only see each other at nationals, so it’s fun to watch them reconnect.”
In order to compete in their respective events, the 397 athletes that attended had to qualify at another sanctioned competition by placing high enough or by meeting a time or distance standard. Those competitions were held at a number of regional locations across the country, all leading to the national stage.
By competing for these limited spots, the competitions provide an avenue for these athletes who perhaps want to take their skills to the next level.
“For [the athletes], this might be an opportunity to compete against a much larger crowd of competition,” Shuan says. “When you have an athlete that is somewhere in their journey, this is kind of that stepping stone for athletes who want to continue to improve, who want to continue to strive to compete at larger events [such as] the Paralympic Games or other international competition.”
In addition to the competitive aspects of the event, The Hartford Nationals host educational clinics and social events, allowing for the athletes and city to come together as a community and have fun when they are not putting their skills on display. Putting this on each year is a highlight of Move United’s initiative.
“Seeing any person reach their goal is special to me,” Kelly says. “Many of these athletes have lived with their disabilities for a long time and have learned to overcome obstacles. Their sport makes them more determined, more powerful, more themselves.”
What Shuan enjoys about this event is the opportunity to push the organization’s goal: redefining disability.
“It’s a big opportunity to support athletes and to provide the platform to really showcase the power of sport,” Shuan says. “Sport has the power to change the world, and throughout our country’s history, sport has been at the forefront of changing the world and changing perceptions. This is obviously an opportunity for us to do that.”
With adaptive sports on the rise in recent years, hosting The Hartford Nationals is something Shuan believes will have a large impact in the United States, hoping that it provides more opportunities for those with disabilities as time goes on.
“When London held their Paralympic Games, it really just brought disability to the forefront,” Shuan says. “We anticipate that also being the same thing here in the U.S., so we’re trying to build that movement. If an athlete with a disability or an individual with a disability sees that and they say, ‘I want to do that,’ then there are places to do that. We’re trying to build that groundswell. We’re trying to build that infrastructure, so that there are full opportunities to participate in sport when an individual is ready, and for us, we think that that’ll be in 2028 when [the Paralympics] comes back to the United States.”
To learn more information about Move United or The Hartford Nationals, visit moveunitedsport.org.
Sports Make Us More
As an official affiliate of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Move United has been “redefining disability” since 1956. Today, the organization offers more than 70 different adaptive sports, and by 2028, the organization hopes that 90-percent of Americans live within a 50-mile-radius of a Move United Member Organization. To learn more about Move United and its mission, visit moveunitedsport.org.
