RAD Society 's Ugly Pant Golf Tournament

Hi everyone,

    Hello everyone,  

For this blog update, I want to give a huge shout out to my friend Tanelle Bolt for her determination to make Invermere a more inclusive and accessible recreational community, by starting up the RAD society(Recreational Adaptive Society).

 The mission of the RAD society is  “As such, we have made it our mission to make BC, and outdoor recreation in BC, accessible to independent-living individuals with short term and permanent mobility issues by providing an inventory of adapted outdoor recreation equipment for low-cost rental fees.” 

One thing that you should know about Tanelle is that she is a go-getter, and she has a huge heart.  After sustaining a spinal cord injury from a cliff jumping accident, she had the dream to create more opportunities for adults, not just kids, who have diverse abilities to be involved in sports in our Columbia Valley. She now runs a the RAD Society, and buys adaptive sports equipment from the States, or other places around the world to loan out to people who have any sort of mobility challenge to try out, so they can participate in sports that they otherwise would not have been able to do, as well as being able to join their family or friends on any outdoor adventures. 

Tanelle usually calls me to be her guinea pig in testing out RAD equipment. I’ve been on RAD’s adaptive mountain trike, their cross country ski; I’ve tried their six wheel bike, and their paragolfer. I also try to make it to some of the RAD’s fundraising events, like their Ugly Pant Classic Golf tournament they had this past Saturday at our local Copper Point Golfcourse. They have one every year to raise money for RAD, and to advertise their paragolfer, which is basically an electric wheelchair/golf cart. You can ride it around just like an electric wheelchair, but you can raise the seat all the way up to a standing position to be able to hit a golf ball into a hole. I definitely know how freeing it can feel to be able to play a sport, which is why I fully support having RAD in our community . It was so amazing, and humbling to see how many others support Tanelle’s idea, and came out to play in the RAD golf tournament fundraiser. I even met a teenage boy with CP that came out with his family to support RAD. I am always so excited to meet kids who have diverse abilities.

I came with a very good friend of mine, Anne, who is also very much a go-getter, and is very enthusiastic about helping me try new things. With her help, and inquiry to Tanelle, I ended up getting to go out on the golf course and play some holes. I have played mini golf before, as a kid, and have hit some holes on the driving range, but I have never gone out to an actual course. It felt empowering to know that I could, and I couldn’t have done it without the paragolfer. Although I am able to walk, standing long enough to play golf, and trying to keep my balance would be very difficult and tiring, and when I do stand to play, someone is usually behind me supporting me, so they have to watch where I swing!  Me in the paragolfer is a much safer way to play. The paragolfer made golf enjoyable for me, as well as everyone involved

      Like I said, the paragolfer is very much like my electric wheelchair, however, it is wider, and has huge tires, so it can go over lots of different terrain. People who rent it, don't even necessarily use it to play golf. Sometimes, they just rent it out to go for longer excursions. Its batteries last longer than a typical electric wheelchair’, so it goes farther. Another feature the paragolfer has is an “elevator feature”. It can stand up to allow people to be in the proper golf playing position. This can also make things like being able to have a beer at a high bar table possible, or even standing up to give someone a big hug; little things that people with diverse abilities do not take for granted. It opens up a world of independence!

Saturday was such a fun day! Anne had a lot of great tips to give me about playing golf, and we also had a guide with us to help.  We took an adventure walking to our starting hole, across roads, and under bridges. That was just as fun as playing golf! 

There is a lot to think about when you golf, I’ve discovered.  My legs might have taken a break while I was on the course, in the paragolfer, but, by the end of the day, my brain was exhausted! I had a new machine to learn how to operate that was a lot wider than the wheelchair I ride around in every day, and I went  up steeper terrain in it.  Also  when you play golf, I have learned that you have to be in just the right position to be able to make a good shot. It was hard lining up the paragolfer, so I could be in the perfect stance to hit the ball in the direction of the hole. I was surprised that I even made contact with the club to the ball, let alone hit it  far! I was pretty impressed with myself, I must say; so was everyone else!

I am so proud of Tanelle! I watched her wheel around Copper Point ,helping everyone wherever she could, and she showed  great leadership. It’s a great thing she's got going, and so many people are behind her initiative. I am excited about Tanelle's vision of everyone getting to play sports, and getting the chance to be active. I will post the link to her RAD Society, so anyone who wants to can learn more about it. I will also post  some pictures from our fun day on  Saturday. People are quite amazed to hear that people who have diverse abilities can play sports like golf! RAD shows them that it is possible. Support organizations like RAD, and help introduce more people who have diverse abilities to the world of sport!

RAD Society Link: ABOUT US | radsociety