IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION recognizing and celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs Wheelchair Football Team for its achievements in the USA Wheelchair Football League.
Intro
RESOLUTION NO. 21197, March 14, 2023
INTRODUCED BY Donna Peyton, County Legislator
Body
WHEREAS, the USA Wheelchair Football League was launched in 2019 by Move United with support from an NFL-BWF (Bob Woodruff Foundation) Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Communities Grant; and,
WHEREAS, the league has provided the first organized opportunity for adults with disabilities to play wheelchair football and has grown from four teams to eleven, with two more expansion teams on the way for the 2023-2024 season; and,
WHEREAS, the league’s rules were designed to closely resemble NFL gameplay, with adaptations chosen specifically to ensure the integrity and safety of the players while keeping the game fast-paced and enjoyable for players and spectators; and,
WHEREAS, over 575 participants have been a part of the program since 2019, with an emphasis on military veteran participation, requiring a minimum of three disabled veterans on each roster to qualify for the grant; and,
WHEREAS, the Kansas City Chiefs Wheelchair Football Team has posted an overall record of 19-4, the best winning percentage in the league over the first two years of gameplay; and,
WHEREAS, the team has over twenty local participants, with fourteen qualifying for the travel roster to compete in tournaments across the country, including Tampa Bay, FL, Salt Lake City, UT, and Phoenix, AZ, where the Chiefs won the 2022-2023 Championship over the LA Rams with a final score of 7-0; and,
WHEREAS, the team has ten disabled veterans that participate in programming in Kansas City; and,
WHEREAS, the parent organization, Midwest Adaptive Sports (MAS), founded in 2011 with the goal of providing alpine skiing programming for the disabled and blind/low-vision communities, oversees the football program, as well as many other adaptive sports programming opportunities, including wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball (youth and adults), wheelchair softball (affiliated with the Royals), alpine skiing, water sports, blind/LV programming, and more; and,
WHEREAS, MAS has achieved major accomplishments, including the 2021-2022 National Championship - Youth Wheelchair Basketball (Prep, age 13U) and the 2022-2023 National Championship - Wheelchair Football; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri that the Legislature does hereby recognize and celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs Wheelchair Football Team and Midwest Adaptive Sports for their accomplishments and contributions to the community, and encourages the continued growth and success of the USA Wheelchair Football League and adaptive sports programs for people with disabilities.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________ ______________________________
Chief Deputy County Counselor County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution No. 21197 of March 14, 2023, was duly passed on March 14, 2023 by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas _____9__________ Nays ______0________
Abstaining ____0_____ Absent ______0______
________________________ ____________________________
Date Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature