Welcome to Collision

What up scooters! It’s your dawg, Riley here. All I’ve got to say is, you’re in for a wild ride. So buckle your seatbelts, connect your harnesses, and lower those tip wheels. 

I think every Power Soccer athlete can think of a gnarly collision they’ve had when playing. Well, Collision Magazine will hit you harder. After visiting Collision and reading its articles, you’ll be wondering to yourself… “do I have a concussion?” 

I often get asked if I’ll ever make any more of those training videos. The difficult part about those videos is that, well, I’m lazy. So, I thought to myself, how could I make it harder on myself to give the people what they don’t want, and with maximum effort? Make a professionally developed website of course! (Thanks, Spark Digital, for the help by the way, it looks rad). Place your bets on if my ambition will last longer than a halftime speech to a team down by 20. What do you even say? Rethink your life? That’s what I’ll be doing at least. 

Anyways.

What is Collision Magazine?

Collision Magazine is a magazine, news, and information website dedicated to power soccer and the broader disability community. It offers training articles and services, as well as news and entertainment for both power soccer and other disability-related topics.

The content is curated by someone with significant experience in many facets of power soccer. It bears no restrictions from being tied/responsible to any organization. It is self-started and self-funded. Not that I had any offers to invest in this lame idea anyways - I’m far too lazy and short-sighted to market myself or my dumb ideas.

The vision for the mission of collision was made on a split-second decision. 

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I think as this brand grows, the name “Collision” will become more apparent. But until then, go ahead and think “haaaaaaa, that’s a cheesy name!”.

Why am I doing this? 

If you can’t tell, I like power soccer. Some might say a little too much. I’m also a big fan of art, in all of its forms. I think there’s something in the power soccer community that has inherent artistic appeal and I want a means to foster that idea. Sometimes art takes risks. Risks that might not always align with a singular organization. I want to provide the freedom to take those risks. Sometimes they’ll miss the mark. I mean, look no further than this article to see great examples of “jokes” falling flat.  

I want to provide a place for real representation of disability that is approachable and relatable, and perhaps even thought-provoking and entertaining. I want more people to see disability for what it really is. Something that alters a person’s life, but doesn’t define it.

The more people are aware of the sport of power soccer and its community, the more people will see that people with disabilities can also be badass (that may not be surprising to everyday folks like you and me, but may be surprising to that sad security guy who gave you $5 because “you getting out of the house inspired him very much and made his day”. Yes I took that $5 because although I like empowerment, I also like money). 

I want to empower the voices in power soccer and disability that the world so desperately needs to hear. We don’t often hear in the media of these stories of people with disabilities being badasses. But I can bad-ass-ure (assure) you, they are out there, just as much as any other group.

It’s often said, and I completely agree, that the sense of community is a big part of power soccer and why they stay involved. Yet I’m certain that the community aspect of power soccer has an opportunity to grow outside of just tournaments and camps. We are athletes, but many of us have other interests and talents too (not me). I want a place that provides an opportunity to showcase all of our talents and enjoy them together. A place you feel you belong to and can contribute to. 

This requires a heavy influence and engagement from the community. I’m looking for a collision of ideas and perspectives if you will ;). See the COMMUNITY page for ideas on how you can make this dream of mine less dreamy. 

And yes, I do plan on resuming work on training videos. For topics that don’t require the work of putting a video together, I wanted a place to house articles. My intent is to create a centralized location where you can find not only the latest power soccer training information, but also power soccer and disability related news and entertainment. No more Facebook groups that get overtaken by the spam bot overlords.

Finally, I’m doing this because the power soccer community means a lot to me. I’ve had tough things happen in my life (as we all do). Yet I’ve found solace in the power soccer community. Just as I’m sure many others have. That’s what makes this community so damn special. I’ll never be able to repay what it’s done for me, but I’ll damn sure try. 

There’s so many facets to this sport. From the game itself, to the community, to the technology, the tactics, the different playstyles, skills, passion, camaraderie and so on. There’s so much more potential. What I hope Collision accomplishes is that it develops more excitement and attention around this great sport. So much so, that more people are driven to act upon those potentials. I’m aware of and excited about all these potentials. But I can only do so much. A surprisingly little amount if we’re being completely honest here... A community on the other hand? 

A community can go far. 

Until next time.

-RJ

Oh, and please please please, share this with your grandma in the mobility scooter.