Adapted sports

Hand-holding stops at the gym door. Pity is pushed aside. Poor behavior is not tolerated.

These are standards generally associated with any high school sports program. And for Adapted Sports, a sports program that showcases the athleticism of students with disabilities, being in a wheelchair is no excuse to feel entitled.

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Photos courtesy of the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs

Chastity Morton, a 17-year-old senior at Heritage High School in Conyers, plays wheelchair basketball and soccer. ‘It means a lot to me to be able to play on a team,’ she said.

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Chastity Morton goes for the ball during a recent Adapted Sports basketball game. Officials say more than 3,600 athletes have participated in the program.

“Parents come up to me and say, for the first time in their lives, they have found an organization that does not bend the rules just to include their children,” said Tommie Storms, director of operations and cofounder of the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, which is headquartered in Clarkston. “The kids are held to a standard of behavior that supports what the parents are trying to teach the children at home, which is independence, self-reliance, self-advocacy and good health habits.”

Chastity Morton, a 17-year-old senior at Heritage High School in Conyers, believes the program has not only given her more confidence but has introduced her to the world of competitive sports.

“It means a lot to me to finally be able to play on a team,” said Chastity, who plays wheelchair basketball and soccer for teams in DeKalb County. “It has changed me a lot. I’m more active and I have more confidence. I used to sit around too much. They say I’m a good player.”

Adapted Sports, founded in 1996, has gained traction at Georgia schools. Since individual schools don’t field teams, disabled athletes from different schools are combined to form squads.

The program takes traditional sports and adapts them for players with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injuries and muscular dystrophy, and for amputees.

Storms says 463 schools — from elementary to high school — have access to school-sponsored Adapted Sports programs, and 3,647 athletes have played at least one of five sports: handball, basketball, soccer, football and track and field. There is no charge to play.

“By Monday, they are in the gym and in six weeks, for the first time in their lives, they are playing for a team,” Storms said.

Athletics for students with disabilities are sanctioned by the Georgia High School Association, and participants are bound by the association’s policies, such as the no-pass, no-play rule and other criteria.

Adapted Sports’ budget for Georgia is about $771,000, and the state has participated since the organization was founded by lifelong friends Storms and Bev Vaughn. The organizers teach schools how to start a program, how to organize students and to identify staff. They also buy equipment and train staff who can help run teams.

In 2002, the organization made significant gains when the Georgia High School Association became a partner with the program. Track and field events, sponsored by Adapted Sports teams, are part of GHSA-sponsored state track meets for all students.

“The track program grows every year and they provide great services to us as far as training coaches, as well as helping our schools secure racing chairs,” said Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the GHSA.

What really caught Swearngin’s interest was an event he attended several years ago that featured Team Holyfield, an all-star wheelchair basketball team sponsored by former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

After the event, Swearngin and the team members discussed the positive influences that school-sponsored athletics had on them.

“It struck a note with me,” he said. “They talked about how athletics was important to their studies, to their health, to their relationships with others, and that’s exactly what we had been saying the value of athletics is for able-bodied students. It was a perfect fit for us and an opportunity to be more inclusive.”

Despite the growth of Adapted Sports, there have been setbacks.

The Macon Bears, once a highly successful program in the Bibb County school system, has not fielded a program in two years. Cobb County has been a tough sell, Swearngin said.

Travel can be expensive. It costs Atlanta Public Schools about $28,000 to run its program, not including $58,000 in transportation costs.

But there also have been significant gains. Gwinnett County is fielding teams this season and Henry County sponsored teams during the 2007-2008 school year. State Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and members of the Georgia Assembly have shown support for the program.

“There really are no overnight success stories,” Storms said. “It takes patience, but we feel like we are reaching the top of the hill and things are starting to get easier.”