This was 2nd time I photographed this event. It’s great because it’s so diverse. Indoors, outdoors, daytime, night, young and old athletes, vets, and some people with amazing physiques and talent. This year there were athletes from both Canada and Mexico.
If you have 4 minutes, there is a better flash folio at www.AccessingArizona.com. As always, if you are one of the athletes or sponsors, I am happy to provide you with photos for free.
It was finally nice to shoot a tournament where all of the teams showed up. The event featured the TIRR Hotwheels (Houston, TX), the Hammer (San Diego, CA), the Suns (Phoenix, AZ), and BORP Bay Area Cruisers (San Francisco, CA)
The Hotwheels won all 3 games on Saturday, and beat the Hammer again on Sunday to win the tournament. On Sunday, the Phoenix Suns beat the Bay Cruisers for 3rd place.
I only shot the two game on Sunday. Here is a link to the photos;
#24 - Dusty Ferreira or the Phoenix Suns, and #12 - Gerard Ah-Fook, of the UoA Wildcats cover one another during the tournement held in Mesa, Arizona.
This was billed as a tournament including 6 teams. On Friday there were only 3 teams. So I focused on getting some solo shots of the players. Once the sun goes down and there’s no ambient light, the Broadway Rec Center goes fom crappy to virtually unusable. Even with a few strobes, it’s pretty dismal.
I didnt return for the games on Saturday due to prior commitment. Addition Photos are here.
The Phoenix Outcasts hosted a 2 day tourneyment in Mesa over the weekend. Because one team was a no-show, a 4th team consisting of a few players from Phoenix was added, and they then borrowed a player here and there to add some competition to the event.
When this happens it becomes difficult to photograph and keep track of who’s who. As well, the teams dont always follow the schedule and that further reduces my ability to photograph the entire event. That said, the team from U of A went undefeated and looked impressive.
At last, its almost bearable outside and the sporting events are filling up my calendar. Lately I’ve been working on a photography project to benefit the soon-to-be-built Virginia Piper Sport & Fitness Center in Phoenix. The first project is to create a 2010 caledar featuring 12 local athletes participating in their sport or recreation of choice.
So this weekend we photographed Greg Hockensmith in his road racing hand bike. He is one of the coaches at the monthly hand-bike clinic held at ElDorado Park in Scottsdale, that is sponsored by the Arizona Disabled Sports Association. Jerry O’Conner was the principal shooter and will no doubt have some great photos, but here’s a few I squeezed in.
Many thanks to Greg for enduring the heat. Stay tuned for more shots.
The Desert Challenge is the biggie for adaptive sports in Arizona. The annual event, sponsored by Arizona Disabled Sports features swimming, weight lifting, archery and various events in track & field. The 3-day event is held in Mesa and is sanctioned by the various governing bodies for the respective sports. Basically it’s fun event for local athletes of all ages and a tune-up for a few of our national athletes with 2012 London Paralympic ambitions.
A special thanks to Jodi of Jodi Davis Photography for letting me come shoot with her. She’s the ADS team’s official photographer. Any participant wanting event photos should visit her site. She does great kid photos too.
Click the jump for some photos of Track & Field, Swimming, Weightlifting and Archery.
The Wildcats of Tucson went 5-0 and handed the Phoenix Outcasts their only defeat on Friday in a narrow 48-46 victory. The Phoenix Outcasts staged a great comeback with a final minute goal and strong goal line defense to beat the Texans on Sunday to finish the tournement 4-1.
Jump to the 2nd page to review two batches of photos. One from Friday, and one from Sunday. If any of the teams are interested in getting copies, please contact me. If anyone has photos from Saturday, please contact me.
Wheelchair Soccer is an indoor sport designed for people who use power wheelchairs. The chairs are adapted by placing a large basket on the front. The grill serves as a way to push the ball around, and a way to bash into your opponent, although I dont think you are allowed to do so.
The Mesa Association of Sports for the Disabled(MASD)sponsored the event which featured three local teams and a fourth team from Minnesota. The event was held at Arizona State University’s gym. The gym has vanilla walls that are just terrible for photography. Add fluorescent lighting and nothing looks like the right color.
