A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

OZASA Brings Adaptive Sports to Bentonville

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Join us as we explore the remarkable journeys of Sean Kent, founder and president of the Ozark Adaptive Sports Association (OZASA), and event planner Brian Carlson. Both have turned personal challenges into a mission to expand adaptive sports in Northwest Arkansas. Sean's story begins with his love for wheelchair rugby, which propelled him to establish OZASA as a beacon of inclusivity in the region. Brian brings his passion for cycling, sharing how technological advancements in adaptive biking have changed the landscape of trail accessibility. Together, they envision a vibrant community where sports like cycling, pickleball, and archery are available to everyone, regardless of ability. 

The podcast highlights OZASA's off-road adaptive cycling event, October 24- 27. Set against the stunning backdrop of Bentonville, this event is not just about sports; it's about creating shared experiences and shows that adaptive sports are not just about physical activity but about building a supportive, inclusive community for all.

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Beth Bobbitt:

Welcome to A New American Town presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, Beth Bobbitt, broadcasting from Haxton Road Studio, and today we're excited to speak with Sean Kent, president and founder, and Brian Carlson, event planner for Ozark Adaptive Sports Association. Thank you both for being here.

Sean Kent :

Thank you, beth, great to be here.

Beth Bobbitt:

So OZASA, as we call it for short, is a nonprofit that supports people with physical disabilities in Northwest Arkansas who wish to stay active, especially cycling. Is that right?

Brian Carlson:

Cycling's one aspect of the many things we do. You've got to cast a wide net of activities to catch a few people. Yeah, you know, because I have people all the time going, I don't play basketball. Why am I going to do basketball now? Or I don't cycle. So we try to do multiple things.

Beth Bobbitt:

I love that. So, Sean, let's start with you. Tell us a little bit about the history, how this came to be, how and why Azaza was founded.

Brian Carlson:

Well, to do that, a little history of me. 13 years ago I broke my neck and while I was in rehabilitation in Chicago for six months, they kept going have you heard of murder ball? Have you heard of wheelchair rugby here? Watch this movie called Murder Ball.

Brian Carlson:

So after I got cleared, after six months, I went to a wheelchair rugby practice because while I was in rehabilitation they kept trying to get me to do support groups and that was just people complaining about the staff, the food and all that stuff. I'm like this isn't for me. You know about the staff, the food and all that stuff. I'm like this isn't for me. So I went to practice and that was the best thing I did after my accident was being on a rugby team going to games, because our sponsor was the rehab facility, which is now the Shirley Ryan ability lab. So every month during the rugby season from September to April, we were traveling, getting out of the area, going to tournaments, and so around that same time my aunt and uncle moved down here for Walmart, like most people do so we would visit, fell in love with the area.

Brian Carlson:

But every time we would visit I'm like there's nothing for me to do here. And we moved here in 2018 and the closest wheelchair rugby team for me to roster was in Kansas City. So I was driving up to Kansas City every week to go to practice just to get community interaction and exercise. So, luckily, the university has a program where they help you do your 501c3 paperwork, got that all approved December of 2019, which is a great time to start a sports program Sat through COVID, couldn't do anything until April 2021, and we started off with wheelchair basketball, you know, starting off with that. And then during that time, I met one of our friends, daryl, and then Daryl introduced me to Brian and we've expanded into the mountain biking, the cycling, pickleball, tennis, fishing we are doing now archery and bowling and yeah, so we're just trying. I got a list of 60 things I could easily do here, but it comes down to insurance allowing me and funding.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, well, that's incredible given the age of the organization. So inspiring. Yeah, thanks for sharing, brian. How about you?

Sean Kent :

Yeah, so it's an interesting story. Sean and I started in different places but came together and this has been a really cool partnership for the last three years. So I moved to Bentonville in 2004 for a two-year work assignment and we're still here. We moved down here and loved it and decided to stay. I got injured in 1999. I've always been a cyclist, was on our collegiate road racing team and raced all over the country, but in 1999, got hit by a drunk driver and ended up not being able to ride an upright bike In Northwest Arkansas. When we moved here in 2004, the opportunities aren't what they are, but we moved to Bentonville when there was just a greenway path that led from the dog park through Slaughterpin.

Sean Kent :

And that was it. And that was enough to pull us out of Rogers into Bentonville, because that was a place where I could go and ride by myself in a safe environment and get outside and enjoy the outside, and that was an amazing draw. While we were riding the greenways in the mid-2010s, there were some bikes in the trees and mountain bikes, and along the way, technology with suspension, bike suspension and motors enabled adaptive bikes to become much more capable, and at that same time, bentonville was developing their trail system. So in 2016, I started working with Trailblazers and FAST. I happened to cross Gary Vernon on the trail one day and we just kind of started working together on how do we make trails more accessible for everybody.

Sean Kent :

As the trail system was developing in in the late 2010s, um, the progress was slow but as, as we came into covid, the trail building, the bike technology really all came together and I found myself in a place where originally, I had gone for a two-mile section of pavement. All of a sudden, there were five, ten miles of trails that I could ride by myself on an adaptive bike in a safe environment from my driveway, and it allowed me to get outside, to be in places. I wasn't able to get easily just on crutches my normal mode of ambulation, um, but I could get outside and I could do it myself. And I saw that and and just thought this is an amazing gift. This is amazing. I really want to share this with people. Um, so in 2020, reached out to trailblazers and said I I'd really like to ride with some friends. Like I invite some friends down here, can we? Can we do a group ride?

Sean Kent :

And the very first year we had five people show up, uh, from as far away as Kansas City, wow, not, not, you know, not a big draw, but we had five people show up and that was the first time I had seen five adaptive mountain bikes together in one place. That set us off on a high-speed path to growth. So five became 15 the next year became 50 registrants last year. What makes this place so amazing is trails that are in town, trails that are accessible. The ability for an adaptive rider to get on terrain, to get out of their comfort zone, to get on terrain, but also in a safe environment that's near town, with access. If there's an issue with short sections of trail where they can develop and learn skills is not something that exists elsewhere and we have just continued to grow that for the riders and the interest is showing. We're bringing people in this year for the event from all over the country, as we did last year, and Canada.

Sean Kent :

Wow Canada. So that is an incredible story year for the event from from all over the country, as we did last year, and canada, and wow canada.

Beth Bobbitt:

So that is an incredible story, I mean.

Brian Carlson:

Both your journeys are um so inspiring we're actually from the same area of illinois oh, is that right?

Beth Bobbitt:

well, small world, this was really meant to be then. Yep and I. You talked a little bit about the growth over the years, as well as the technology I mean that's, I'm sure you know made it possible. What kind of support are you providing people, you know? Can you talk a little bit about the equipment and the community and the partnerships needed to make this happen?

Brian Carlson:

So the two greatest barriers for people with disabilities to be active are transportation and the cost of the equipment. So as a program right now, I would like to one day be able to cover that first barrier. We'll get there. But ORT is doing a great job, but the cost of the equipment it costs, say, $6,000 for a sports chair, $6,000 for a standard bike, 10 to $30,000 for a mountain bike. For me to get a new rugby chair, I'm looking at over $10,000. So as a program we have the program equipment that individuals can use at our events. They go, hey, I like this, and then I help them find grants, fill out grants to get their own, because they have your own stuff fitted to you and it's not being fitted all the time, just makes it better.

Beth Bobbitt:

And so insurance, I assume, does not cover sports adaptability.

Brian Carlson:

Sometimes you can get it. I have a really good doctor writing out the script for it. Sometimes you can get it, but typically, no, it's not covered by insurance. The VA covers it, but typically they have to go through personal funding, grants and all that to get it.

Brian Carlson:

Yeah, so it's incredibly important to even you know, have have guidance, because I'm sure a lot of people just don't even know where to start with a grant or get calls from all over the state right for people asking and, um, have people coming from, you know, cersei to try out the equipment or stuff like that to see if that's what they want, because this stuff's as expensive as a car? Yeah, and you're, and you're taking a guess on if you like it, if it's going to fit right, right, and stuff like that. So, yeah, it's a lot of learning yeah, so talk a little about.

Beth Bobbitt:

You have an off-road event coming up at the end of October. Can you talk a little bit about what that is and who it's for?

Sean Kent :

Sure, so I mentioned the event briefly, but the reason we're here today talking is because we have our fourth Ozaza off-road adaptive cycling event, october 24th to the 27th, here in Bentonville. As I mentioned, we started this event to provide an opportunity for people with disabilities to come and ride and get outside and get outdoors. That's what we put this on the calendar for. We put this on the calendar for, but, as Sean mentioned, cost and access to equipment are a barrier.

Sean Kent :

So, there's a couple key ideas that when we started this event four years ago that we wanted to do. Number one provide access to equipment. So Sean has several bikes in his inventory with Ozark Adaptive Sports that they've made the investment to bring in to allow people to try. Last year we worked with another organization to bring bikes in. Since the first time that we hosted this event, it's free to participants.

Sean Kent :

So, for those individuals that want to come. We'll make equipment available, We'll make the experience available. The goal is to get here and get out and get back outside.

Beth Bobbitt:

That's wonderful.

Brian Carlson:

That's what we're trying to do.

Sean Kent :

A lot more locals since the first time. So we fundraise the event and put the event on at no cost to participants and, as I mentioned, this year we have 32 riders from all over the country that are coming in to Bentonville October 24th to the 27th and we will do four days of events. On the first day we'll walk through the equipment with our riders. Sounds simple, but not all of our adaptive participants are as adept a rider as some of the folks that you see out on the trail.

Sean Kent :

So we'll walk through the equipment, make sure it's safe and make sure they understand how to use it whether they're using something of ours from Ozark Adaptive Sports or they're bringing it on their own and then the next three days we'll provide a learning ride experience on the trails. Our goal is to leverage our trail system here to help people one get out and two get better Again, just kind of the unique access to trails and the ability to go back and try something one or two or three times with some of the great support riders that we have from the local bike schools Bike School Bentonville and Buddy Pegs.

Sean Kent :

And we have support riders that are affiliated with a lot of our local organizations and are really good instructors with a lot of our local organizations and are really good instructors. So we will go out for three days of riding, help people learn and develop and build their confidence and skills.

Beth Bobbitt:

Awesome. Do you need more support riders?

Sean Kent :

So we could use a few more support riders. What we try to do for each of our participants is have either a one-to-one for beginners or a two-to-one ratio of support riders to adaptive participants. We could use a few more support riders, especially for Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th. There is a link on the Ozasa website wwwozasaorg is the Ozark Adaptive Sports website. There is a link into the Ozasa off-road Eventbrite registration. We ask for people to register through Eventbrite just so that we know what days that folks are going to be available.

Beth Bobbitt:

Great.

Sean Kent :

And in addition to getting people out on the trails, we want to show them what Bentonville has to offer as well. So we will also do get-togethers at night A lot of our adaptive participants they're the only ones that are in their area, or there may be one or two folks so that we are able to bring 30 plus people together on this equipment in in a central place is really unusual. So just talking, sharing stories, helping each other learn how to adapt to their environment is a huge part. So we will take the group out to gizanos on thursday night and we have an amazing event planned with Crystal Bridges on Friday night.

Brian Carlson:

So Crystal Bridges is being fantastic in supporting us. For the Friday night we're going to be watching some special movies that were made. Doing a dinner, a little socializing and having a really good time down at Walker's Landing is the plan Great. And then hanging out at the Bend on Saturday, and the support we get for this event is just phenomenal.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah.

Brian Carlson:

Because honestly there's nothing like it. Like Brian said, areas only have I mean, even here we have what three guys that own the bikes here, so having the program bringing out, you know we got our own three bikes, so you know raising it up to six, but hopefully eventually we have a bigger fleet so that we can get even more people out, because we got people calling in all the time asking to rent stuff, right, and we're just not big enough yet to do that.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, so it sounds fantastic. I'm excited for these riders and excited for the organization and for us, you know, to be able to host something like this. I think it's just so unique and speaks a lot of your hard work, and so thank you for organizing it. What else do you need? Are there volunteer opportunities, more sponsorships?

Brian Carlson:

It's been fun now that students are required to have 75 hours of volunteer to graduate.

Beth Bobbitt:

That is helpful. That's helpful.

Brian Carlson:

They come in a lot more because right now we do we're looking at 150 to 200 events this year, hoping to one day get to stuffs every day. So we do Wednesday nights from seven to 9 at Springdale Parks and Rec. We do either wheelchair basketball or pickleball, depending on what everybody's feeling, and it helps to have volunteers fill those ranks so that we can, you know, scrimmage or have people to play against. Saturday mornings we do weekly bike rides, either a combo trail or mountain biking ride or just a trail ride, depends on the calendar. And then Saturday afternoons from 2 to 4, we again we're indoors doing pickleball or basketball. We just did fishing time melts together, was that two weeks ago? Something like that at Osage park, um, and like I said earlier, we just you got to do a wide net of activities yeah and to get people to come out.

Brian Carlson:

Some just want to socialize with other people in wheelchairs. Yeah, some just want to, you know, just hang out, not even participate, just be there. Or you know someone who tried the equipment for the first time or realized they couldn't do something before, and then they come back and like, oh my God, I could do it again. So it's and it's just trying to find the times that work for everybody, cause you know, you got the, the, the kids that want to come out and be active but, they can't stay out till 9.

Brian Carlson:

PM or stuff like that. So that's why we do the Saturday afternoons.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, and the calendar is full. I mean you have a lot of events. I encourage people to check that out.

Brian Carlson:

Yeah, everybody's welcome to come try it. It was the best thing to practice because I'm a quadriplegic my triceps are paralyzed. My hands are paralyzed. Our bodies no longer regulate body temperature, so we don't. My triceps are paralyzed. My hands are paralyzed. Our bodies no longer regulate body temperature, so we don't sweat. Our blood pressure barely goes up when we're active. So to play against somebody who has all that stuff better prepares us for tournaments, competition yeah makes us work harder well, that's good to know, okay.

Sean Kent :

So you asked about support, beth. We've been incredibly fortunate with this event and we have a lot of great support from the community. So for this event in particular, we'll be based out of the Bella Vista Church of Christ just up across Walton Boulevard. It is from 2 to 7 on Thursday the 24th, 9 to 2 on Friday and Saturday, and then we'll be at Coler Grove on Sunday from 9 to 2 as well. From a support perspective, we've been really fortunate again with a lot of great local volunteers. We put this on for free and we really appreciate everybody that comes out to support.

Sean Kent :

As I mentioned, a few more support riders for our Saturday and Sunday days, in particular On Thursday. If there are any capable bike mechanics, we would love to see you at Bentonville Church of Christ between 2 and 7 pm. Dave at Mojo, brian at Bike Works are also helping us with some support. Again, our Bentonville partners have been fantastic with resources. But because we put this all on for free, sean is also doing a silent auction. So anything from an in-kind perspective that can be auctioned off to help us raise money to put on this event, bring our folks in from out of town to enjoy what we have here, is appreciated.

Beth Bobbitt:

Excellent. So we'll gather up this list and make sure we help get the word out.

Sean Kent :

And come out and cheer everybody on.

Beth Bobbitt:

I was going to say spectators are welcome, absolutely spectators are welcome.

Sean Kent :

What everybody remarks about, whether it's fishing or the cycling event, is the first thing that comes to mind is adaptive cycling. It's going to be slow. It's going to be slow, it's going to be the. The capability of the individuals and the equipment is above what everybody can imagine yeah, we've had people buy e-bikes just to keep up with usually that's awesome, our support riders. We will wear them out um and that's the first thing that everybody will will say um that, uh boy, I didn't think you guys could get through that.

Beth Bobbitt:

Good to know this will not be an easy ride it is not an easy ride.

Sean Kent :

Our goal is to develop confidence and skills, so we're trying to not leave everybody in the dust. But, hey, it's Bentonville and the trails are awesome and fast and there's going to be a little of that too.

Beth Bobbitt:

You've got to have fun. Well, I love it. Anything new coming up that you want to talk about? Is there new partnership plans to expand? Anything you could tease out?

Brian Carlson:

We're still growing.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah.

Brian Carlson:

And our participation numbers have just increased year after year, because not only do we serve the disabled population, but we also have able-bodied groups, youth groups, uams, arkansas, edge, nil programs. Come out and play wheelchair basketball with us and stuff like that. So our participation just keeps going up and up and I'm still working on getting out of that startup phase.

Beth Bobbitt:

Right.

Brian Carlson:

And to go into full-blown community organization and all that and to be able to not only be a sports program but a community program where we're doing workshops, classes, support groups and all that too. Yeah, classes, support groups and all that too. Yeah, and the goals are very big. Yeah for the organization because our service area. I, like I said, we've had people from Searcy, fort Smith, oklahoma, missouri, all over the country coming in. People want to visit here with disabilities. We got to give them that opportunity to have the recreation and the equipment that they can take out on the trails and that's what we're working for.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, that's wonderful.

Brian Carlson:

And you know, with that growth there's new needs, and so I think it's, you don't think about it, but in Arkansas it's one in three have a disability. So it's three level, three degrees of separation from somebody that you might know. Right, you don't know who has a family member. You know a cousin, friend or whatever that could use our services, and it's because the area is still very rural. You know, it's hard for somebody in Gentry to get out here, or Silent Springs, or Decatur, you know. So that's where us advancing into a transportation provider outside of ORT's area kind of kicks in, so we got a lot of work to do, yeah.

Beth Bobbitt:

A lot of work has been done, though, and you should applaud yourselves. I mean, it's incredible, like I said, just in a few short years, and I encourage everyone to check out the Ozosa website, Check out this event coming up off-road event coming up October 24th through 27th, and we're going to wrap up with a question. We ask all our guests about a dream day in Bentonville. I'd love to hear, brian and Sean, what you might do or see or eat, even if it's just one place or one thing, one activity, anything special you you want to do in Bentonville.

Sean Kent :

Well, sean's thinking of that. I'll, uh, I'll take it this. This is pretty simple for me. Um, you know, we moved here and we're we're pretty fortunate that we live in in walking distance from from crystal bridges and that and we get to walk the dogs in the North forest.

Sean Kent :

That's kind of our normal route and and I'm a bit of a homebody I'd like like my environment. So taking the dogs for a walk, heading down to the square, coffee at Onyx, come back home, jump on the trails, ride through Slaughter Pen, head over to Kohler, maybe stop at Airship on the way back and then dinner off the square. Like I'm old, I've been here a while, so table's always a favorite, but there's some great new restaurants that I'd love to try. So not hanging too far away from downtown, but it's just an awesome environment Gets me outside with the family.

Beth Bobbitt:

I love that you're training your dogs to have an appreciation for art too.

Sean Kent :

Yes, they love the art.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah.

Sean Kent :

We're the beagle people.

Beth Bobbitt:

So everybody be on the lookout for the beagles Sean. What about you?

Brian Carlson:

I like food trucks. I like going to witching hour over by the fire department. Hanging out at Osage Park watching the planes, especially if they bring out the Mustangs or the Corsair.

Beth Bobbitt:

That's great.

Sean Kent :

Osasa's done some really fun events over over at osage park some bike rides, yeah, so sitting by the lake.

Brian Carlson:

We we have the uniqueness of a program where either we have highly advanced riders or very new riders. So taking them to osage, where it's an easy ride, and then taking them to the slaughter pen gives them variations, or taking them down to fayetteville I love that there's so many options here.

Beth Bobbitt:

The trails are just blowing up as we speak too. So well, thank you both for sharing and talking about this wonderful organization. So we're going to check out that off-road event, october 24th through 27th. The meantime, don't forget, visit Bentonville is here to help you navigate things to do, where to eat and stay and what's going on in our new American town. Give us a follow on social media, sign up for our newsletter and check out our website at visitbentonvillecom. Thanks for listening.