So you want to nominate a HERO?
You want a person or group who has done some pretty extraordinary things to be recognized?
As you consider your Heroes, please review our NEW categories for the 2023 ASPIRE Awards.
Recent AAASP News
AAASP Senior Spotlights 2023
May 3, 2023Our AAASP Board of Directors Continue to Accomplish Great Things… Meet Gary Burley!
April 17, 20232023 AAASP/GHSA Wheelchair Basketball State Championship
March 13, 2023Join us in Macon Saturday, March 11th for the 2023 American Association of AdaptED Sports Programs (AAASP/GHSA) State Wheelchair Basketball Championships
March 7, 2023American Association of AdaptED Sports Programs’ Impact and Legacy Highlighted in Online Historical Exhibit, “25 Years of Innovation and Achievement”
February 13, 2023New Year, New Emphasis on Education, New Online Exhibit Confronting Lack of Awareness Sidelining Disabled Students
January 30, 2023REFEREES NEEDED!
What:
Adapted Sports Officials’ Training Clinic (for officiating AAASP Handball, Basketball and Football)
When:
- August 2022 for AAASP Wheelchair Handball
- December 2022 for AAASP Wheelchair Basketball
- February 2023 for AAASP Wheelchair Football
For more information, please contact: Robyn Hootselle, Adapted Sports Director - rhootselle@adaptedsports.org
Officiating for adaptedSPORTS®
There is no charge for the clinic, as costs and materials are covered under the AAASP member association fees.
Officials are paid a lump-sum at the end of each sports season (2nd week of November for Handball; 2nd week of March for Basketball; 2nd week of May for Football). Click here for more information, payment and how to apply!
AAASP is the state’s governing and sanctioning body for adapted sports through the AAASP/GHSA Alliance.
We're Celebrating Our 25th Anniversary of adaptedSPORTS®
The American Association of Adapted Sports and its partners are celebrating 25 years of providing award-winning interscholastic adaptedSPORTS® programs for schools by serving and sustaining a standardized structure of education-based athletic competition to improve the well-being of students with physical disabilities.
Want to Get Involved with AAASP?
A Win-Win for Everyone
The AAASP method ensures an equitable opportunity in school athletic programs for physically disabled students. It's a win-win for schools and community organizations.
This nationally recognized award-winning model complies with federal mandates and provides partners with quality proven implementation strategies while offering a coordinated approach for growth and sustainability in adapted athletics at the local level. The advantage for partnering schools and community organizations is they can maximize participation, share resources, coordinate services and avoid duplicating programs. Partners have access to best practices, adaptedSPORTS® policy, resources, data, research, educational training programs, equipment kits, rules committees, and technical expertise to successfully implement inclusive adapted athletic programs to improve the well-being of children with physical disabilities.
OUR WORK
Put simply, we train coaches, coordinators, officials and school administrators how to engage, serve and fully integrate the last group of students still sidelined in sports in America's schools - those with physical disabilities. That's HUGE! But it's no longer hugely difficult or expensive.
OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES
Since our founding in Atlanta in 1996, AAASP has been hailed as the "premier" organization successfully serving, "America's Sidelined Kids." We've demonstrated that when a school system adds even one adapted sports program, the overall physical and emotional health of their students with physical disabilities is positively affected, along with their academic performance.
AN AWARD-WINNING APPROACH
AAASP employs a competitive, cross-disability model that maximizes the number of students and types of disabilities who may be eligible for a single team.This approach has been a game changer–making the formation of local school teams possible at the district and regional level.
Hear what AAASP really means to our community
Your Donations Make a Difference
Your donations help ensure no child is sidelined in school athletics due to a physical disability. Thank you for your support!
Listening, Learning and Leading with Partners like NFHS, NIAAA & FlagHouse
Award-Winning Best Practices for Education-Based Adapted Sports
With this initiative, we promote the adoption or implementation of strategies proven to work and produce positive results for students and schools.
Reinforcing Our Commitment to Developing & Sharing
We Provide the Rules, Training Videos & Teaching Aids
Utilizing its nationally honored model, in use since the 1996 Paralympic Games, and showcasing Georgia as its fully developed prototype, AAASP has led the way in removing barriers that had previously thwarted the full participation and inclusion of student athletes with physical disabilities in school athletics.
Taking It One Step at a Time
Professional Assistance: AAASP Workshops, Mentoring, Consulting and Implementation
AAASP assists national, state, and local educational agencies with research in developing a framework for phased adoption. This structured approach is then coupled with the AAASP comprehensive training program, which allows administrators, coaches and officials to acquire the knowledge they need to be successful. The result is managed adoption while ensuring a standard of excellence.
AAASP is proud to PARTNER with
NATIONAL PARTNERS:
National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAA)
STATE PARTNERS:
GA Department of Education
Georgia High School Association (GHSA)
Florida High School Athletic Association
MEDIA PARTNERS:
Voice America Talk Radio Network
Sports Talk @ PositivePub.com with Gil Tyree
GPB Sports
Grunduski Group
MLT Creative
ADVOCACY PARTNERS:
Inclusive Fitness Coalition
Active Policy Solutions
About AAASP
The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP) represents a standardized approach to interscholastic sports programming for students with physical disabilities. It’s a not-for-profit association dedicated to developing adapted interscholastic sport programs in partnership with national, state, and local educational agencies. This cooperative approach represents the most successful model for affording students with physical disabilities access to competitive sport.
Our Mission
AAASP’s mission is to expand and sustain a standardized structure for education-based athletic competition to improve the well-being of students with physical disabilities.
Our Vision
AAASP envisions a society where all children with physical disabilities can experience the rewards and satisfaction of competitive school-based sports.
Our Core Values
- Every young person with a physical disability should have an opportunity to participate in appropriate interscholastic athletic programs, thereby affording them the ability to achieve the same or similar known positive outcomes as their non-disabled peers. Such participation enhances health, improves academic achievement, enhances self-confidence, creates a sense of independence through goal setting and achievement, increases critical thinking skills, and improved socialization skills through team building.
- Any young person who participates in adapted sports programs should have the guidance of adults with proper sports training.
- The standardization of sports seasons, rules, policies, and ethical guidelines are essential to the long-term success of interscholastic adapted athletics.
- Continuous, stable, and quality extracurricular adapted athletic programs are possible only with the aid of solid governance, leadership and the commitment of educational agencies.