Athletes Without Limits moves HQ from D.C. to Bend

Athletes Without Limits, a national nonprofit organization that has served more than 500 U.S. athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 10 sports, has relocated its corporate headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Bend.

The move was made in large part due to Bend’s abundance of training opportunities and facilities, access to outdoor recreation, active lifestyle, and the community’s ethos for volunteerism.

“Some of the best athletes in the country live and train in Bend, which is an ideal fit with our model of inclusion and integration of athletes with disability into mainstream training and competition,” said Barry Holman, founding president of Athletes Without Limits. “

While our athletes are spread out across the country, our vision is to make Bend the hub for our cognitive and physical testing, training camps, clinics for athletes and their families, the host site for national and international championships and more.”

With a mission to promote inclusivity in sport for all, especially U.S. athletes with intellectual disability, Athletes Without Limits provides training, coaching, and facilitates athlete participation in national and international sporting events, including but not limited to INAS (International Federation for Intellectual Disability Sport) competitions, the Paralympic Games, and even the Olympic Games.

Athletes Without Limits is also currently preparing one of its triathlon athletes, Sean O’Rourke, who in 2017 hopes to become the first athlete with intellectual disability to complete an Ironman distance triathlon. Another AWL athlete, middle distance runner Mikey Brannigan, has his sights set on becoming the first intellectually disabled American athlete to compete in the Olympic Games at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

“By focusing on the athlete instead of the disability, we are able to provide athletes and their families with education, training, life skills, and experiences that transcend sports,” Holman added. “We are excited to both bring that to athletes who live in Oregon, and to bring athletes from across the U.S. and around the world to Bend.”

To help offset some of the costs that would otherwise be absorbed by athletes and their families, Athletes Without Limits is actively seeking local businesses partners and sponsors to provide a variety of in kind products and services such as lodging, meals, training facility use, transportation, and more. Central Oregon Pediatric Associates is already providing cognitive testing for athletes, which is a requirement for competition eligibility, at no cost.

For more information, visit www.athleteswithoutlimits.org, email barry@athleteswithoutlimits.org, or call 202-554-0510.

About Athletes Without Limits:

Founded 2009 and based in Bend, Ore., Athletes Without Limits is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities platforms to train and compete on a national and international level in mainstream and para sport. Through its training hubs in Washington D.C., Georgia, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia, AWL has served more than 500 athletes in 10 sports including basketball, cycling, rowing, skiing, swimming, table tennis, Taekwondo, tennis, track & field, and triathlon. The organization’s mission is to promote inclusivity in sport for all, especially U.S. athletes with intellectual disability. For more information visit www.athleteswithoutlimits.org.