Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will kick off off the first week of the 2020 Angel City Virtual Games presented by The Hartford, one of the country’s leading adaptive sports festivals. With an innovative virtual approach due to COVID-19, the 6th annual Games will take place entirely online over three weeks from July 13 to August 30. This year’s Games will hosted by two-sport paralympian John Register and feature dozens of paralympians, olympians, celebrities, and professional athletes.
Baskeball legend, two-time NBA champion, and three-time Olympic medalist Pau Gasol will be the keynote speaker for the Health and Wellness Resource Night on Tuesday, July 14th. Professional Muay Thai fighter Jake Peacock, who was born without the lower part of his right arm, will lead an introduction to boxing class Wednesday, July 15th. The Rollettes dance team, which empowers women with disabilities to live boundlessly and shift perspectives through dance, will lead a virtual dance class, also on Wednesday, July 15th. Tatyana McFadden, considered the fastest woman in the world, will teach wheelchair racing skills during the track and field clinic. At the age of 15 and being the youngest member of Team USA, McFadden appeared in her first Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004.
Other notables joining for Week 1 include former UCLA Basketball Coach Steve Lavin, Kim Raver from Grey’s Anatomy, and Isaiah Pead, a former NFL player who lost his leg in a car accident. Additionally, the 2020 Virtual Games will be dedicated to memory of long-time Angel City Sports Coach and three-time Paralympian Angela Madsen, who recently passed away in the Pacific on a solo unassisted row from LA to Hawaii.
Launched in 2015, the Angel City Games presented by The Hartford is an annual celebration of adaptive and Paralympic sport that features inclusive competition open to athletes of all skill levels who have physical or visual impairments. The 2020 Virtual Games will follow a three-week schedule: Week 1: July 13-19; Week 2: August 3-9; Week 3: August 24-30. The unique 2020 Virtual Games are mirroring components the physical Games would have showcased: sport clinics, competitive opportunities, special events, and community building.
The weekly schedule will feature many exciting elements, including: Mondays: Virtual Sport Clinics; Tuesdays: Resource Nights; Wednesdays: Workout Wednesdays; Thursdays: Angel City Concert Series; Fridays: Friend & Family Fridays; Saturdays: Virtual Sport Challenges; Sundays: Community Fun. In addition, friends, family members, caregivers, volunteers, and suupporters are welcome to join all of the events!
"We were uncertain about the Games during COVID, but the first week looks to be absolutely powerful and wonderful, bringing together so many adaptive sports athletes and fans during rough times,” said Clayton Frech, founder of Angel City Sports. “We are very excited for all the virtual competitions and events that the Games will feature over the coming weeks.”
Registration also involves a suggested donation – participants can pay whatever they can afford, for whatever they are registering to do at the Games; https://www.angelcitygames.org/Athlete-Participation/Registration. For more information visit http://www.angelcitygames.org and follow @angelcitysports on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
