RISE Adaptive Sports and its Irving Outlaws open up the game for North Texans

When the Irving Outlaws roll onto the field in Dallas on Nov. 1-2 to host a USA Wheelchair Football League tournament, they'll be representing more than a team. They're a program of RISE Adaptive Sports, an Irving-based nonprofit that helps North Texans with physical disabilities get in the game.

RISE stands for Recover, Inspire, Succeed and Empower, and its mission is to help people with physical disabilities do exactly that through inclusive, adaptive recreational sports. The organization dates to 2007. According to its North Texas Giving Day page, its board and staff are made up entirely of people with physical disabilities, and its CEO was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair.

Programs include camping, boating, tubing, water skiing, parasailing, wake surfing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair football. Rugby players have gathered on Friday nights at Irving's Georgia Farrow Recreation Center, and camping programs take place at a RISE site in Grapevine. A big part of the work is removing cost as a barrier. A former executive director told The Dallas Morning News that RISE provides the equipment so participants can get involved. One parent wrote on the Giving Day page that RISE gives her family a place where they "do not have to think about barriers."

The Outlaws started when RISE held tryouts for what FOX 4 reported was North Texas' first wheelchair football team. Athletes from across the region competed for 14 spots, and many were military veterans. The team went on to win the 2023 USA Wheelchair Football League championship. Head coach Danny Peltier said in a Move United announcement that hosting the tournament gives the team "a chance to share the sport with our community."

Readers can support RISE by donating through North Texas Giving Day, volunteering, or learning about programs for kids and adults at riseadaptivesports.org. Adults with qualifying physical disabilities who want to compete can ask about Outlaws tryouts.

This profile draws on original reporting by FOX 4 and The Dallas Morning News.