Stay In Step Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center
This non-profit recovery center is designed to provide state-of-the-art recovery treatment to SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) patients in the greater Tampa Bay and surrounding areas. The Center is open to both military and civilian SCI patients. Our proactive approach to rehabilitation, combined with real-time global collaboration with other SCI subject matter experts and patients, makes SIS (Stay in Step) a unique and unprecedented center offering SCI patients in the Tampa Bay and surrounding area a direct pathway to start their journey toward healing.
The Troy J. Smith Ability Games
The Stay In Step Organization presents the Troy J. Smith Ability Games annually. The Stay in Step SCI Recovery Center (SIS) is a non-profit veteran-founded rehabilitation facility that provides activity-based exercise programs for patients with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) and other neurological disorders. SIS is a unique long-term rehabilitation center providing a supportive family environment. The caring staff of SIS has worked tirelessly to create a motivating environment that utilizes advanced therapeutic techniques, modern equipment, and out-of-the-box thinking to challenge those suffering from a spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and/or paralysis to increase their functionality as well as quality of life.
Tell us about the Ability Game’s namesake, Troy J. Smith.
Troy J. Smith was the Operations Manager for Stay In Step. He and another associate created the Ability Games in 2017. Troy passed away in 2019. That is when the event’s name was changed in his honor. Our last event in November 2022 had a collection of non-disabled athletes, adaptive-bodied athletes, and spectators for about 150-to-160 people.
How does the public learn about the Ability Games and how to participate?
This year we will be participating with Creative Loafing to help and reaching out to several newspapers and news channels to discuss more marketing options. Word-of-mouth and social media marketing have been our primary forms of marketing for the event.
What are the criteria for participating?
Anyone can participate in the event itself. We pair able-bodied athletes and adaptive-bodied athletes into teams. Then, each participant is subjected to the event’s selected movements or workouts that showcase each adaptive athlete’s strength. We will also be bringing back the electric wheelchair obstacle course. For that event, participants must be able to control their electronic wheelchairs independently without assistance.
What is the event mission?
The Troy J. Smith Ability Games are structured to showcase each adaptive athlete’s ability to perform strength training movements alongside and in front of their community. This event is designed to push them to and elevate what the participant thinks they can achieve. Giving these athletes an event allows them to look forward to each year and see results developed from weekly training within physical therapy sessions.
Our mission is to provide a step forward to recovery through long-term rehabilitative care, treatment, and hope to all our clients whose lives have been impacted by suffering from a spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and/or neurological disorder. We seek to create a motivating, nurturing, and faith-centered environment where our clients and their families can learn how to overcome limitations and navigate their challenges together. We strive to change lives one step at a time and help all our clients stay on the path toward recovery.
Compete
Join this year’s competition. Prises awarded at the end of the event include:
- Top team event
- Top male/female quadriplegic adaptive athlete
- Top male/female paraplegic adaptive athlete
- Top male/female other neurological disorder adaptive athlete
- Top male/female able-bodied athlete
- Top power chair user
The 2023 event is planned for the last weekend in october. Stay tuned for more information, or visit www.stayinstep.org.