FORT WAYNE, IN (April 28, 2026) –
Emerging Sports Destination Award for Accessibility
Visit Fort Wayne is excited to announced that we were honored with the Emerging Sports Destination Award for Accessibility at the 2026 Compete Sports For All Petey Awards in Las Vegas! This award honors a destination that is actively rising as a leader in growing and supporting adaptive sports. Our community’s commitment to accessibility in sports not only earned us this award but makes Fort Wayne a true leader in adaptive sports tourism.
SportsETA Best Event Award Finalist
This week at the Sports ETA Symposium in Las Vegas, Visit Fort Wayne was also recognized as a finalist for the Event or Program Impact of the Year award for the 2025 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup. Sports ETA is “the trade association for the sports events and tourism industry in the United States...the most essential resource for sports commissions, sports destinations, sports event owners, and industry partners.”
2026 Compete Adaptive Sports Summit in Fort Wayne
Looking ahead to August, Fort Wayne is set to host the 2026 Compete Adaptive Sports Summit at Turnstone, another event that the Visit Fort Wayne sales team bid on and won for our community. In this inaugural year for the event, Compete Sports is focusing on a select group of planners to have a hands-on experience in Fort Wayne at Turnstone and other facilities that showcase the pinnacle of adaptive sports venues. This positions Fort Wayne as a leader in the market and establishes our reputation as an aspirational mark in the eyes of planners and other destinations.
The three-day Summit will bring together sports organizations, travel and tourism partners, corporate partners, and community stakeholders focused on building dedicated adaptive sporting events or integrating adaptive divisions into traditional tournaments. The Summit is intentionally focused and highly collaborative, creating space for meaningful conversation, shared learning, and strategic growth.
Visit Fort Wayne’s 10-Year Tourism Master Plan names accessibility and universal design as the foundational goal of our community. Partners like Turnstone, WindSwell Foundation, and others have set the stage and propelled Fort Wayne beyond its peers in this demographic, creating a firm foundation for our future. Visit Fort Wayne’s sports sales team takes these assets and markets them to sports planners around the world to increase Fort Wayne’s visibility as an adaptive sports destination.
“We’re proud of Jazmin and the work our team and community partners have done to position Fort Wayne as a leader in adaptive sports tourism,” said Nicolle Campbell, Director of Sales at Visit Fort Wayne. “These awards reflect our community’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion, and we’re excited to continue welcoming these events while supporting the growth of adaptive sports across the industry.”
Marketing these assets has helped bring international and global events to Fort Wayne in this last year alone, including such events as the World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup, the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s Women’s and Military National Championships, the USA Curling Paralympic Pre-Trials, and more.
Visit Fort Wayne is proud to be making strides in this growing market and looks forward to welcoming the Adaptive Sports Summit later this year.
A huge congratulations to Jazmin Zavala, Senior Sports Development Manager, our Group Sales Team, and our amazing local partners for putting in the work to bring home this award!
Learn more about the event at competenetwork.com
For additional information or media interviews, please contact:
Nicolle Campbell, Director of Sales, Visit Fort Wayne
nicolle@visitfortwayne.com
(260) 424-3700
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