Fundraising for World Championships and countdown to Rio
The time has come for me to start traveling to Florida and get back on the water for training. This past week information was released to all Paralympic hopefuls for standards, US Team Trial date and Paracanoe World Championships, which is our qualifying event for Rio. Things are very close this year for team trials and World Championships, which means the sooner individual athletes pay to attend World Championshipts the the cheaper the cost will be for the flight to compete overseas. We are required to have all expenses paid for Germany before team trials and unfortunately, there is no funding through the governing body to cover athletes and coaches traveling to represent the USA at World Championships.
As a Paralympic hopeful, I need to raise approximately $3,000 to cover travel expenses, hotel, and boat rental in Duisburg Germany. We have to have 50% paid by March 24th and 100% paid April 29th the day before trials. The amount is a rough estimate based on doing everything as soon as possible and training cost and other expenses have been more than I expected. I have not raised enough money to cover World Championships. I am setting up a fundraiser in Philadelphia and there will be a comedy night in Northern NJ as well. I will send out the information as soon as possible. If you would like to support me as an athlete you can click on the donate button on my page and donate directly to the Amateur Athletes Fund.100% of the support will go towards these expenses. Here is an active link as well to my donation page.
Without the support of friends, family, businesses, and other organizations I would not have been able to train, buy needed equipment, cover training costs, travel to have this awesome great opportunity. The chance at representing the US is one of the greatest chances of a life time.
Info from US Paralympic Canoe Kayak Coach
Trials will be alongside the Olympic Trials in Gainesville GA and the able bodied trials for several other events. Paracanoe will race on 30 April. Classification for those requiring it will be in the days leading up to race day. in Duisburg Germany, the top USA athlete in Duisburg who also finishes among the top 4 Nations not already qualified for Rio, gets the position on the Paralympic Team.
Thank you to all the people who have been such a big part of my support system like Posi, Challenged Athletes Foundation Operation rebound, Sweat Fitness, Italian American Police Society of New Jersey, Columbiettes, Jelly Beane’s, Beckerman’s, Towers', Helton's and brothers in blue who made this past year possible. I hope to make everyone proud! Details are below
Details from US Paracanoe Coach Deb Smith Page
Our deadline for paying 100% of our expenses in Duisburg is 29 April, the day BEFORE our Trials! You won't have time to make this decision AFTER you race in GA. There are some intermediate deadlines. The preliminary entry form/hotel reservation is due 11 March. This is very important because the size of the team and the requirement for truly accessible hotel vs one where where you can get by with a regular room so long as the building is accessible may change which hotel we get. We have to pay 50% of all the expenses by 24 March. A tiny bit of wiggle room to adjust DOWNWARD by 8 April. Just for a ballpark figure, plan on $2500 to $3000 to cover all your expenses for flight, racing, boats, etc. Of course flights will be more if you purchase at the last minute.
