草榴社区

More specialized wheelchairs for wheelchair basketball. More electronic balls for beep baseball. More sport activities 鈥� and a wider variety 鈥� for middle and high school students with functional limitations based on physical disabilities.

That鈥檚 what it means for the Ability Sport Network (ASN) at 草榴社区 (UAH) to receive a $58,200 grant as the sole sponsor of the state鈥檚 adapted youth sport league focusing on Paralympic sports, says Dr. David Kyle, UAH鈥檚 network director and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Education.

鈥淭he equipment is so expensive,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ne wheelchair 鈥� $3,000. The beep baseballs, the beep kickballs, those are about $50 a piece, and they鈥檙e very temperamental. I had four brand new ones, and they all got destroyed just within one event.鈥�

UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System, had been receiving a portion of the state鈥檚 ASN grant funding each year since 2016. This year, UAH was awarded the entire grant from the Alabama Education Trust Fund through the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

ASN has a serious purpose behind all the fun and games.

鈥淧eople with disabilities are underserved in terms of sport and physical activity,鈥� says Kyle, himself a former athlete with a disability. He did para-triathlon for about 10 years before working with ASN.

鈥淧oor health comes not so much from the disability but from the lack of activity. It is a public health issue. We want people to have a better life and to be healthy, and we use sport and games as a tool to provide that.鈥�

Along with several wheelchair basketball practices this grant cycle, ASN at UAH has held two big events on campus this spring: Adaptive Cycling Community Day and Development Clinic on May 21 and beep baseball with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind on June 5-6.

Next up is a boccia clinic on July 22 at the Optimist Recreation Center in partnership with Huntsville Parks and Recreation. Boccia, a Paralympic sport, is a precision ball sport originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy. A bowling type of game involving strategy and accuracy, boccia is played sitting down in a wheelchair or regular chair.

ASN does more than organize physical activities for the community. It also offers professional development training workshops to show others how to share the fun.

鈥淲e focus on P.E. teachers, coaches and adapted P.E. teachers,鈥� Kyle says. 鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 para-professionals we work with. We鈥檝e done professional development for Huntsville Parks and Rec.鈥�

ASN provided training for Athens City Schools on April 28. Two more state workshops are planned at Athens State University on July 24 and for Florence City Schools on Aug. 7.

Workshops are one more way for ASN to get and keep everyone moving.