NONPROFIT
By Tricia Moore | Photos courtesy of Ozark Adaptive Sports Association
Ozark Adaptive Sports Association: Find Your Reason
On a beautiful Saturday morning under a vivid blue sky, Sean Kent had the Ozark Adaptive Sports Association trailer open at the Rogers Activity Center. His nonprofit was prepping a wide range of adaptive bikes for a group of cyclists with physical disabilities looking to hit the trails.
Through OZASA, Kent has empowered people with disabilities and created a welcoming, inclusive community. “OZASA is a selling point for our region,” he said. “If people with disabilities are looking to make a move here, as I did, it helps to know they can participate in the community like everyone else.”
With the nonprofit’s programs and equipment, they can do just that at no cost.
In the early days of OZASA, Kent had funding, specialized equipment and courts for his now-thriving wheelchair basketball program, but he lacked a steady stream of participants. The primary hurdle was awareness; many potential participants didn’t realize an organization was providing dedicated space for adaptive sports in the region. Kent soon realized it would take more than sharing the group’s events through the regular channels. It would take well-positioned partnerships and community supporters to grow participation.
OZASA has weathered many challenges since its founding in 2019. “The perfect time to start a nonprofit geared toward participation is right before COVID,” Kent quips with a sarcastic grin.
But true to his tenacious nature, Kent didn’t let that bump in the road derail his momentum.
One of the biggest barriers for a lot of physically disabled participants is transportation, especially for those outside the Ozark Regional Transit Authority area. Kent links ORT’s website on OZASA’s site so participants can be aware of transportation options and be encouraged to find a solution and commit to consistent attendance. He is always challenging himself to make adaptive sports easily accessible and dreams of one day offering an OZASA shuttle to ease the barrier.
Darren Phillips, who lost his leg in an accident a year ago, was participating in that morning’s adaptive cycling group. “It was through my amputee support group that I heard about OZASA,” he said. “I went to one of their wheelchair basketball clinics, and it changed everything.”
Phillips said since his accident, his finances are tight. But because OZASA provides everything at no cost, “I just have to get here, and it’s all there for me,” he said. “OZASA makes the ease of participating front and center.”
Before Phillips cycled away, he added, “I am more active now than before I lost my leg.”
While OZASA’s various sports offerings are listed on its website, the heart of Kent’s work lies in community engagement and securing safe spaces for participation. The well-established trail system across Northwest Arkansas has been vital to the growth of adaptive cycling. Kent approaches it with his signature method: learn, adapt and create. Looking ahead, his goal is to transition from informal recreation to a structured schedule of leagues and teams that reach beyond the periphery of our region.
This mission is personal for Kent, who is quadriplegic; OZASA was born from the lack of opportunities he found when he first moved to the area.
Kent leads a dedicated group of volunteers who manage a lot for OZASA. Because the organization provides both programming and equipment, the team handles the constant loading, hauling, repairing and storage required to keep the equipment accessible. While Kent and his crew make these events appear seamless, they are powered by extensive behind-the-scenes labor, meticulous organization, and ongoing efforts in fundraising and grant writing.
Supportive family members are Kent’s personal pit crew. His father, Art Kent, jokingly chimed in while tinkering with a participant’s hand-cycle, they are “voluntold” what to do. As his mother, Bonnie Kent, puts it, “It’s a family affair.”
Both parents are wildly proud of their son — and rightly so. He has done incredible work with his nonprofit since moving to Northwest Arkansas almost a decade ago. He not only recognized that people with similar disabilities had no access to adaptive sports but also took action to change that.
Kadesha Treco, a public policy Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas, discovered a vital community through OZASA. Treco said beyond the activities, she has enjoyed the much-needed outlet and the introduction to a diverse network of individuals with disabilities. “OZASA has removed barriers by providing gear as well as assistance to securing personal adaptive equipment, which has opened up a new world of athletic possibilities and community belonging,” she said.
OZASA guides participants through their challenges to see what is possible, get moving, have fun and stay connected. By encouraging everyone to “find your reason,” just like Kent found his, the organization proves that no matter your challenge, your purpose can carry you farther than you ever imagined.