Ability First Sports is committed to making our program available to everyone that can attend, no matter the financial situation. We’ve never turned away a participant and will always work with individuals who want to attend camp. Our year round activities are always free of charge and our camp is priced to only cover our operating costs. Your generous donations directly contribute to attendees getting more active in their everyday lives. We wanted to highlight a few of the scholarships that we offer for our attendees. If you are interested in applying for any of these scholarships, please note within our attendance questionnaire or reach out to info@abilityfirstsports.org  

If you’d like to sponsor an athlete for this year’s camp, or create a recurring scholarship – please fill out this link or contact info@abilityfirstsports.org. 

Royce Andes Memorial Scholarship – Royce started volunteering with Ability First in 1985.

He was active in all aspects of Ability First. Responsibilities included Board of Directors, Water Ski
coach, and Mentor at our Ability First Sports Camp. Royce was the inventor of the “Kan Ski”.
The “Kan Ski” equipment enabled participates to water ski. Royce provided water ski
instruction for Ability First for 30 years. He was instrumental in bringing adapted water skiing
into the mainstream.

Sandy Gorder Memorial Scholarship– Sandy started volunteering with Ability First in 1995 as
our Camp Nurse. She was committed to Ability First early on, taking on a leadership role for 30
years. Sandy was critical to the success of our summer sports camp. Her professionalism,
knowledge, and can-do attitude enabled athletes to take risk with their independent living
skills, sports involvement, and life skills. She served as a board member, camp coordinator, and
skit night judge and Camp Nurse.

Marty (Coach) Buckley Memorial Scholarship – Marty started volunteering with Ability First
back in the days. He graduated from California State University, Chico with a credential in
Adapted Physical Education. He went on to teach Adapted Physical Education in Napa for a few
years, before coaching Men’s Soccer at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Marty was
the assistant men’s coach, before taking over the women’s program at the Academy. Along
with coaching soccer, he was an instructor in the Physical Education Department teaching a
variety of activity classes. Marty held this position until his retirement, when he moved back to
Chico to once again volunteer with Ability First Sports.

Eric Snedeker Family Scholarship – The Snedeker Family scholarship was established years ago
by Dawn Prince. Dawn is a relative of the Snedeker Family and understands the value and
impact Ability First Sports has on the participants. Dawn started the scholarship program to
help sponsor young athletes attend camp on a yearly basis. The scholarship has assisted over
15 athletes and continues to be successful funding source.