Bucs Wheelchair Football Team Receives National Recreation Honors

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The Hillsborough County Buccaneers Wheelchair Football program not only fielded one of the top teams in the USA Wheelchair Football League in its inaugural season but also scored a top national innovation award.

Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation was named the 2022 National Recreation and Park Association Innovation in Social Equity Award winner for its wheelchair football program created in the spring of 2021.

Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation has long had an active adaptive sports program featuring wheelchair basketball, track and field, archery and other sports for those with disabilities.

The Hillsborough County Buccaneers Wheelchair Football program was created to increase competitive adaptive sports opportunities serving Hillsborough County veterans and provide access to football for all disabled residents in the community.

The county's team is one of nine national teams that compete in the USAWFL, and is the only team in the league to represent a government agency.

The team roster is made up of 21 players who all have a physical disability, with 40 percent of those athletes being veterans.

Inaugural season partnerships with Move United, the NFL Bob Woodruff Foundation, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, and the Wounded Warriors Project allowed the program to open to all who wanted to play with the sponsors picking up all costs for the athletes including travel and equipment.

After hosting tryouts in April and May, and beginning practice this month, the Hillsborough County Buccaneers Wheelchair Football team is set to begin its 2022 season in August as it competes in three national tournaments, including one hosted in Hillsborough County.

The Innovation in Social Equity Award recognizes a park and recreation agency that launches a project or program that improves access for everyone in the community.

The team practices at the Lesley "Les" Miller, Jr. All People's Community Park and Life Center, 6105 E. Sligh Ave., Tampa.

All team members, age 18 and older, have a permanent disability that reduces the function of their legs and all team members are required to provide their own elite performance sport wheelchair.

The USAWFL is led by Move United, a nonprofit organization that uses the power of sport to challenge people with disabilities.

The Hillsborough County program is supported in part by the NFL Bob Woodruff Foundation's Salute to Service Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community Grant.