Editor’s note: Leading up to the NASC Symposium this spring, the NASC is highlighting adaptive sports athletes. The proceeds raised for the 2016 NASC Sports Legacy Fund will go toward offsetting expenses for the Mary Free Bed and Adaptive Sports Wheelchair Tennis program, which provides equipment to individuals who are unable to afford their own. Each month we feature one of the adaptive athletes: This month we feature Valerie Wallace.

My name is Valerie Wallace and I am 54 years old, married for 28 years, and have one son. I was involved in a severe car accident in 1980 which left me with both hips broken and dislocated, one ankle broken and dislocated, and an above knee amputation. 

Prior to the accident I was very involved with long distance bike riding, speed skating and many outdoor activities. Six months after my accident, they told me that wheelchair ping pong was the only sport really available to me, and I was very disappointed.

Then in 1981, I moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I was introduced to wheelchair tennis. I began playing on a regular basis with the "Grand Rapids Wheelchair Sports Association" team. I loved the game and began competing. I truly feel that playing tennis helped to guide my future.  I became active on the board and was active in the discussions regarding the junior wheelchair sports camp. This gave me the confidence I needed to find what else what was available to the disabled population.

Because of my involvement with wheelchair tennis and Mary Free Bed, I pursued a vocation in recreational therapy. I became certified and worked and lived in Pocatello, Idaho, where my job required me to do the following activities: White water rafting, horse packing, sea kayaking and downhill skiing, along with teaching other disabled athletes to swim, weight lift, and do aerobics. However, the best part of the job was that I got paid to play and teach wheelchair tennis! 

When my husband and I moved back to Grand Rapids in 1988, I became active again with Mary Free Bed and the" Cannonsburg Challenged Ski Association,” and continue to be involved with competing in wheelchair tennis, teaching tennis to the juniors at the Mary Free Bed Adaptive Sports Camp, skiing with "CCSA" and helping organize the Mary Free Bed adaptive downhill ski clinic.

About the NASC Sports Legacy Fund 

The NASC Sports Legacy Fund awards an annual grant to an organization in need in the host city the NASC Sports Event Symposium. Originally developed by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission as an equipment donation program, the Sports Legacy Fund is a way for members of the sport tourism community to make a personal and lasting impact on sports programs and initiatives that serve the underprivileged throughout the country.

An emphasis is placed on donations to not-for profit organizations that provide individuals, particularly at-risk youth, veterans, or physically or intellectually disabled individuals, opportunities to participate in sport and encourage healthy lifestyles. This contribution is part of the legacy the NASC leaves in each host city. Since 2009, the NASC Sports Legacy Fund has donated $63,600 to beneficiaries in the host cites of the NASC Sports Event Symposium.