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Last Friday morning, arrows soared through the air by UTampa’s Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex as students steadied their hands on their bows and aimed at archery targets. Later, at noon, those same hands were gripping steel bars on the powerlifting bench, testing their strength under Paralympic rules.

UTampa’s Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance hosted Paralympic Sports Day, alongside the Office of Campus Recreation and the Tampa Bay Strong Dogs, a local wheelchair basketball team.

This event was designed to build self-awareness and community with para-athletes through hands-on sport experiences. For allied health major Logan Rowley ’25, this experience was about shifting perspective.

“This event helps raise awareness about what Paralympic sports are and exposes me to new ways to play sports that I am already familiar with,” she said.

Archery kicked off the day’s lineup of events, followed by football, tennis, powerlifting, volleyball, swimming, basketball and goalball. Goalball is played by athletes who are blind or visually impaired using a ball with bells inside, where teams of three defend their goal line by listening for the ball and blocking it with their bodies. The game is played in complete silence so that players can track the ball's movement by sound.

U.S. Paralympic archer Tracy Otto, who placed eighth in her individual event and sixth in a mixed team event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and is a three-time Parapan American Championships gold medalist, led the session. Otto opened by breaking down the rules: archers shoot 15 arrows total, five rounds of three, at 50 meters for compound bows. Time limits are strict — just 20 seconds per arrow — and compound archery uses cumulative scoring because of the bow’s high level of accuracy.

Students used standard compound bows — the same bows Paralympic athletes use.

“There’s this misconception that Paralympic sport means adapted equipment,” Otto said. “In archery, the bow is the same. The adaptation is in how you learn to shoot. Some athletes shoot with their mouth. Some use a shoulder release.”

Otto described archery as both mental and physical. It is a martial art that demands calm, control and constant re-centering.  “This is a sport of continuous adjustment,” she said. “Overcoming disability happens mentally and physically at the same time.”

Students showed up ready to experience this martial art themselves.

“We came to archery because we went to a wheelchair basketball event two weeks ago as part of our Physical Education and Fitness for Special Populations class,” said Olivia Cook ’26, an allied health major. “We had such a great experience that we wanted to try other Paralympic sports.”

At noon, the field transformed into a powerlifting gym. Instead of a quiet and focused setting like archery, the space was roaring with the cheers from the audience.

In Paralympic powerlifting, there is one movement that decides everything: the bench press. Athletes must lower the bar to their chest, hold it completely motionless, and then press it upward until their arms are locked. The person with the heaviest successful lift within three attempts wins.

As students gathered around the benches and began to warm up, exercise science major Milena Guzman ’25 shared why she signed up.

“Paralympians have such strong work ethics. That is what I hope to take away — to never give up and never take anything for granted,” Guzman said.

Criminology major Serra Erilli ’25 believes Paralympic Sports Day is important because it makes space for everyone.

“I think it’s very important to be inclusive,” Erilli said. “Life can get hard when things are not designed for you to enjoy. And I love how everyone is included today — because no matter who you are, you should be able to do and enjoy the same things as others.”