Background
— This section written by Jerry McCole
I will start with the history of the cerebral palsy sport movement in the United States. The original organization was the National Association for Cerebral Palsy Sports (NASCP). The early efforts were in New England (Connecticut, etc.) and Michigan (Metro Detroit). The time was around 1976-1978. In 1979 or so, the NASCP became a part of the Program Department of the national United Cerebral Palsy Association (UCPA), based in New York City.
From an early date, sports programs for individuals with cerebral palsy typically served some other disabilities. This was true of the team I was associated with in the late '70's on. I am not sure when the term "Les Autres" was first used. This is a French term that means "The Others"". It is my understanding that this was created due to the fact that certain disabilities would not have enough participants to create their own disability sports organization. In other words there was no Muscular Dystrophy Sports Association, no Sports Association for Multiple Sclerosis, etc.
NASCP started programming for Les Autres athletes in the early 1980's on a more formal basis. When the 1984 International Games for the Disabled were held in New York, the NASCP team also included Les Autres athletes. This is where I first met Ralph. As you may or may not know, NASCP served both wheelchair and ambulatory athletes.
At some point in the mid to later 1980's the United States Les Autres Sports Association (USLASA) was formed. I believe the original state of incorporation was Michigan.
In 1987, NASCP ceased to exist. The United States Cerebral Palsy Athletic Association (USCPAA) was created as an independent, nonprofit organization with sports being its main mission and at that time became a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee. In 2001, USCPAA (us) filed the required paperwork to “Do Business As” (DBA), the National Disability Sports Alliance (NDSA).
On the international scene, sports for individuals with cerebral palsy, was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA). For Les Autres, the governing federation was the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD). USCPAA was a member of CP-ISRA and the U.S. member of ISOD was the United States Amputee Athletic Association (USAAA). The USAAA got into some financial trouble I believe and were brought into the National Handicapped Sports and Recreation Association (NHSRA), which is now called Disabled Sports USA.
Competitions/Events:
The 1981, 1983 and 1985 National Games were called the Cerebral Palsy/Les Autres Nationals. In the late '80's the amputee group (USAAA) started including Les Autres in their events. I believe Ralph probably attended these events (Tennessee, New York were a couple of locations). Even with this inclusion in the amputee (USAAA) events, USLASA continued to function as an independent organization. I believe that Ralph became a member of the board of directors for USLASA.
Another organization called the National Wheelchair Athletic Association (NWAA) also coordinated events for athletes who only competed in wheelchairs. My guess is that Ralph was a member of that organization also. They are now called Wheelchair Sports USA. So, when Ralph went to the Far West Wheelchair Games in California, it was a NWAA/Wheelchair Sports USA sanctioned event.
I am not sure about Ralph's competing in Denmark or Canada. I seem to recall that he went to some games in British Columbia because he sent me a cap (that I can not seem to find now!). There is not a formal relationship between the disability sports organizations in this country and those in Canada. Because of the proximity, many times athletes from both countries would participate in the other country's competitions.
When I was with my program in Texas we started out as the Dallas Riders Disabled Sports Team and ended up calling ourselves the Disabled Sports Association of North Texas (DSANT). The reason I tell you about this is that DSANT worked with all disabilities and we were members of USCPAA, USLASA, the blind sports organization, etc.
NDSA is now a 'division' of BlazeSports America — www.blazesports.org. This happened at the end of last year when it looked as though NDSA would not be able to continue because of financial reasons. Jerry McCole kept the office in Rhode Island.
Results
Don't miss the results from all of Ralph's competitions along with images of his many medals.
This site maintained in loving memory of Claire Englander.
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