World Record-Holding Athlete and Entrepreneur Kyle Maynard to Headline as Special Guest Speaker
Atlanta, August 25, 2025– The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, Inc. (AAASP) is pleased to announce that more than 80 individuals and organizations have been nominated for 2025 ASPIRE Awards, representing 23 categories that highlight outstanding contributions in support of student athletes with qualifying disabilities. The Adapted Sports Programs in Recreation and Education (ASPIRE) Awards recognize the exemplary efforts of individuals and organizations that have been instrumental in advancing AAASP’s mission to expand access to adapted sports programming nationwide.
The Seventh Annual ASPIRE Awards Celebration will take place on Sunday, October 26th at Maggiano’s Little Italy, 3368 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia. The event will be emceed by actor, writer and television personality Patrick Cusick, and will feature keynote remarks from special guest, Kyle Maynard, World Record-Holding Athlete, Author, Entrepreneur and Adventurer. During the ceremony, AAASP will honor these nominees and name the award recipients for 2025.
A record 93 nominations were received this year!
Nominees for this year’s ASPIRE Awards are listed below:
- Katelyn Hand, Adapted Track & Field, Fayette County Schools
- Ansley Nix, Adapted Track & Field, Gordon County Schools
- Jenna Proctor, Adapted Track & Field, Gordon County Schools
- Max Richardson, Adapted Track & Field, Gordon County Schools
- Ben Vondrak, Adapted Track & Field, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Charles “Drew” Freeman, Coach of the Year JV, Muscogee County School District
- Julius Hooper, Coach of the Year JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Ryan Johnson, Coach of the Year JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Larry Osborne, Coach of the Year JV, Houston County Schools
- Len Boudreaux, Coach of the Year Varsity, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Dr. Jeffrey Martin, Coach of the Year Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Dain Weigle, Coach of the Year Varsity, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Auburn University Adapted Sports Program, Community-Based Program Award, Auburn, AL
- National Federation of State High Schools (NFHS), Community-Based Program Award, Indianapolis, IN
- Clayton Eagles, Education-Based Program Award, Clayton County Public Schools
- Muscogee County School District, Education-Based Program Award, Muscogee County
- Peach Rolling Trojans, Education-Based Program Award, Peach County Schools
- Tanya Anderson, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Georgia High School Association (GHSA)
- Dr. Lionel Brown, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Peach County Schools
- Mark Christmas, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Clayton County Public Schools
- Dr. Nicholas Griffin, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Troup County School System
- Tracie Henry, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Illinois High School Association
- Justin Kesterson, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
- Christy King, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Troup County School System
- Dr. Alan Long, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, BSN Sports
- Dr. Jimmy McCamey, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Family Life Center, LaGrange, GA
- Andy Warner, Eli Wolff Advocacy Award, Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletics Associations
- Marcia Edwards, Gail Hendrick Champion of Support Award, Atlanta Public Schools
- Vincent Hamlin, Gail Hendrick Champion of Support Award, Peach County Schools
- Kila Ray Brown, High School Senior Athlete Award, Clayton County Public Schools
- Jeremiah Hopson, High School Senior Athlete Award, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Bailey McCartney, High School Senior Athlete Award, Troup County School System
- Taylor Nation, High School Senior Athlete Award, Troup County School System
- Sherry Richards, Leslie Sweatman Official of The Year Award, Macon, GA
- Stan Awtry, Media “Hero” Award, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, GA
- Mr. Chatman, Media “Hero” Award, Chatmans Media, LaGrange, GA
- Will Hammock, Media “Hero” Award, Gwinnett Daily Post, Gwinnett County, GA
- Luke Hetrick, Media “Hero” Award, WSB Channel 2, Atlanta, GA
- Halyn Duncan, Most Improved Athlete Award-JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Maggie McGraw, Most Improved Athlete Award-JV, Muscogee County School District
- Mickelson McGraw, Most Improved Athlete Award-JV, Muscogee County School District
- Cohen Stephens, Most Improved Athlete Award-JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Elam Tyson, Most Improved Athlete Award-JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Daniel Apuango, Most Improved Athlete Award-Varsity, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Jaden Screen, Most Improved Athlete Award-Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Gary Woodruff, Most Improved Athlete Award-Varsity, Clayton County Public Schools
- Joshua Biyoyouwei, Power Chair Athlete of the Year, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Elam Tyson, Scholar Athlete of the Year – JV, Clarke County Schools
- Anthony Cuti, Scholar Athlete of the Year – Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Ashlyn Stevens, Scholar Athlete of the Year – Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Josh Cruz, Spirit of AAASP Sportsmanship Award, Houston County School District
- Nick Long, Spirit of AAASP Sportsmanship Award, Peach County School District
- Caleb Merriken, Spirit of AAASP Sportsmanship Award, Muscogee County School District
- Najee Smothers, Spirit of AAASP Sportsmanship Award, DeKalb County School District
- Matt Hatchett & Blake Tillery, Committee Chairs, Vaughn-Storms Founders Award, Georgia House & Senate Appropriations Committee, State of Georgia
- Antoine L. Craig, Vaughn-Storms Founders Award, Blind Soccer Nation, Virginia State University
- Georgia House & Senate Appropriations Committee, Vaughn-Storms Founders Award, State of Georgia
- Evander Holyfield, Vaughn-Storms Founders Award, Holyfield Foundation, Atlanta, GA
- Ja’Corian Carter, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Henry County Schools
- Sannitra Colbert, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Peach County Schools
- Hunter Culverson, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Muscogee County School District
- Jace Harter, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Peach County Schools
- Jabre Hayes, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Atlanta Public Schools
- Jeremiah Rhodes, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Peach County Schools
- Jensen Ziezer, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- DeMarcus Allen, Jr, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Clayton County Public Schools
- Anthony Cuti, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Andrew Dotson, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Clayton County Public Schools
- Laila Kindness, Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Paul Hart, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-JV, Muscogee County School District
- Caleb Merriken, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-JV, Muscogee County School District
- Lane Rogers, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-JV, Clarke County Public Schools
- Caleb Watters, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-JV, Peach County Schools
- Jose Aguirre-Saldana, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Clayton County Public Schools
- Dalton Crosby, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Houston County Schools
- Andrew Dotson, Wheelchair Football Athlete of the Year-Varsity, Clayton County Public Schools
- Jacee Hand, Wheelchair Handball Athlete of The Year Award, Henry County Schools
- Cullen Minter, Wheelchair Handball Athlete of The Year Award, Muscogee County School District
- Randall Montanez, Wheelchair Handball Athlete of The Year Award, Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Ruby Stachowski, Wheelchair Handball Athlete of The Year Award, Houston County Schools
- Jace Tolliver, Wheelchair Handball Athlete of The Year Award, Peach County Schools
Thank you to the following 2025 AAASP ASPIRE Awards Sponsors: Georgia Department of Education, the State of Georgia Appropriations Committee, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), Stout Creative, Varsity Brands and the AAASP Board of Directors.
Plan to join us for the event at Maggiano’s Little Italy – at 4:00 pm – to celebrate the nominees and winners with us! Tickets are only $50 and includes an amazing, family-style dinner at the event! Learn more at: https://www.facebook.com/AdaptedSports and RSVP for the event at: https://adaptedsports.org/aaasp-aspire-awards/.
The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a not-for-profit association dedicated to developing interscholastic adapted sports programs in partnership with national, state, and local educational agencies. It represents a standardized approach to extracurricular adapted team sports and has developed one of the nation’s most comprehensive school-based athletic programs for students with qualifying disabilities attending elementary, middle, and high school. For more information, please visit our website at http://adaptedsports.org or join our conversations on Twitter at: @AdaptedSports.
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Contacts:
Atlanta: Terri Grunduski, Adapted Sports – tgrunduski@adaptedsports.org 404-226-7497