Hockey/Golf/Croquet Stick Striking Extender Transcript
LISA: Hey there, my name is Lisa Belcastro and I’m so excited to share with you some inexpensive ways to make sports more accessible to athletes with disabilities. For over a decade I have been working in the disability sport community as an adapted physical education teacher, volunteer, and advocate. Like many who run disability sport programs funding is often limited. Even on a shoestring budget we must find creative ways to accommodate the needs of every athlete in our program. No one deserves to be left on the sidelines and we're here to make sure that never happens. 
[Lisa stands on a platform beside a wheelchair and pieces of equipment made from PVC piping. A title montage depicts modification of equipment. Text DIY adapted sports equipment with Lisa Belcastro a project by the U.S. department of state global sports mentoring program. A graphic of a U.S. flag emblems of department of state United States of America and sports diplomacy U.S department of state and the logo for the university of Tennessee Knoxville center for sports peace and society]

LISA: In this video we'll be focusing on an equipment adaptation that will make a number of sports more accessible to athletes that use wheelchairs. We will be building something that I call a striking extender. The idea for this came after watching an athlete during a hockey game. He was trying to pass the ball but the arm rest of his wheelchair obstructed his ability to use both of his arms and this made the game difficult for him. The striking extender when added to any striking implement, like a hockey stick, golf putter, or croquet mallet, comes up over the armrest and across the body of the athlete. This allows them to utilize both their arms in a comfortable and effective position.
[Text the build. Lisa at a workbench near tools to build the striking extender]

LISA: Here are the materials that you'll need: PVC, 90-degree elbow fittings, t fittings, and steel hose clamps. 
[Three pieces of PVC one short one long and one of medium length two ninety-degree elbow fittings one t fitting and two steel hose clamps]
LISA: You will also need a couple of tools: a saw, screwdriver, duct tape, permanent marker, measuring tape, PVC primer, and PVC cement.
Over the years I found that I really enjoy working with PVC. PVC is incredibly durable, easy to work with, and best of all it's really inexpensive. When I built my first piece of equipment I'd never even picked up a saw. You might be a master builder or maybe you've never picked up a tool in your life, regardless of your comfort level or experience, I want to assure you there's nothing to be intimidated by. Building with PVC is as easy as one two three.

Step one cut the PVC into the lengths you need. Step two connect the PVC using the
proper fittings. And finally step three, cement the pieces into place.

[text step one cut].

LISA: Let's start with the half inch PVC pipe. Using our saw we're going to cut this into three pieces. Measure 12 inches of the PVC and mark it with your marker.  
[text a full build guide is available in the description].
LISA: Using your saw cut straight down from where you made your mark. Mark the 12-inch piece with the letter A near one of the ends. You're also going to need a 10-inch piece marked with the letter B and a 4-inch piece marked with the letter C.

Step 2 connect. First, you're going to start with the piece that you marked with the letter A. And you're going to get a 90-degree elbow fitting. You're going to place it on one of the ends of that piece that you marked with the letter A. Next, you're going to find the piece that you marked with the letter B and you're going to put it into the opening of that 90-degree elbow fitting. You're going to take your final elbow fitting place it on the opposite end of the piece that you marked with the letter B. Then you're going to grab that piece that you marked with the letter C, place it into that final opening of that 90-degree elbow fitting and you're going to finish off by grabbing the t fitting and placing it on the end of letter C. And there you have it
[text step 3 cement]

LISA: In this step we're essentially going to take the piece of equipment apart and put it back together again, but there's a reason for that. I find it helpful to build the piece of equipment to make sure that I’m happy with the measurements and structure prior to cementing it together. If I realized I made a mistake after they were cemented together, I may have just wasted a lot of time and resources. It can get rather messy so I’ve put down a piece of cardboard. Let's get to it. First, we're going to need our primer.
[small can of Oatey purple primer for PVC] 
LISA: I’m going to take this joint apart, pull out our primer, we're going to go ahead, we're going to prime our PVC pipe, and we're going to prime the inside of our joint. 
[rubs applicator around one end of PVC pieces and also inside of the 90-degree elbow. text make sure you complete this step in a well-ventilated area]

LISA: We're going to give that a couple of seconds to dry and then we're going to grab our cement. 
[Oatey regular clear PVC cement.]
LISA: You're gonna take your cement, you're gonna put it around the PVC pipe, you're also gonna cement the inside of the PVC joint, and you're gonna go ahead and secure them together. You might need to hold them in place for a moment. Now we'll prime and cement all of our joints.
[text fast forward]
LISA: Now that we've cemented all our joints together, it's time to attach it to our striking implement. For this I’ve chosen a hockey stick. You're going to take your hockey stick, place it on the table, and place your striking extender up against it. 
[long PVC piece; parallel to hockey stick] 
LISA: Now we're going to need two steel hose clamps and a screwdriver. Take your first clamp, secure it around the hockey stick, and using your screwdriver you're going to tighten it. We're going to take our second clamp and with our screwdriver repeat. Finally, to ensure the striking extender is safe for both the user and other athletes participating, I’m going to wrap duct tape around the hose clamps to cover any sharp edges.
[text demo Lisa beside a man in a wheelchair who holds the modified hockey
Stick]
LISA: You can see that the striking extender elevates the hockey stick up over the wheels and across the body of the athlete. This is going to allow the athlete to use the stick more effectively and efficiently.
[man taps ball with end of stick]

LISA: I told you that was going to be easy. In just a few simple steps we've created a piece of equipment that increases independence, mobility, and accessibility. Athletes now have access to a variety of activities and it can all be built for just five dollars. Be sure to tag us on social media with your builds. Links to our social media accounts are available in the description. I’d like to thank the U.S. department of state especially the sports diplomacy division and the university of Tennessee center for sports peace and society. We hope this project design serves you and your athletes well. Thanks for watching.
[text complete build guide available in the description. DIY adapted sports equipment]

[Music]