SPOKANE, Wash. — Lauren Fields, a ParaSport Spokane athlete, has high hopes of making it to the Paralympic Games one day! But at the age of 17, she has already competed at national championships.
She is currently a senior at Valley Christian and is now traveling the world competing in wheelchair racing with help from local nonprofit, ParaSport Spokane.
Fields has embraced her disability instead of having it hinder her life, “if you don’t know you might see it as a huge disadvantage, but for me my disability has opened up so many doors through wheelchair racing. I’ve been to four different countries, and I’ve competed at national championships.”
She has been competing for years and at the age of 15 she was able to compete at her first Paralympic trials and has now been an All-American wheelchair racer for three years.
She is hoping to become an All-American this year as well, “I can definitely see a difference from where I am now compared to years ago. It’s hard when you’re in it, but looking back I can definitely see how I’ve improved and it feels amazing.”
Fields has been accepted to multiple colleges and her dream is to compete in wheelchair racing at the University of Illinois, which is renowned for its wheelchair racing program.
To help her get to this point in her career, ParaSport Spokane has helped get her to national competitions.
Travel for these athletes is not cheap, according to Lindi Marcusen a track ParaSport athlete, “it costs seven times more for an adaptive athlete to even start compared to an able body athlete. There’s costs for the equipment that are great and to then travel, to compete against other people with disabilities in the US you have to travel.”
ParaSport Spokane will be hosting a banquet to help raise money for athletes traveling internationally or competing locally.
To support all athletes, there will be a ParaSport Banquet on Jan. 27. Tickets are on sale now, it is $90 for individual tickets and $900 for a table, which holds eight people. They also are seeking corporate sponsors for this event.
If you are interested in attending or wanting to sponsor this event, please go to the ParaSport Spokane website.
Also, there is still a way to support this program if you are unable to attend this banquet. They are accepting donations to “provide training and competitive athletic opportunities for youth and adults with physical disabilities that promote success, self worth and independence.”
If you want to donate, go to the ParaSport Spokane website!
