Atlanta, April 20, 2021 – The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, Inc.(AAASP) will recognize and honor athletes, coaches, influencers and organizations this Fall for their outstanding contributions to support student athletes with physical disabilities to get “off the sidelines and into the game”. The Adapted Sports Programs in Recreation and Education(ASPIRE) Award honors individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions central to the mission of making adapted sports programming available to children and adolescents with physical disabilities and contributing to their physical, social and intellectual well-being.
The ASPIRE award was established in 2018 to recognize those who support and advocate on behalf of adapted sports. The award showcases those who stand as role models; individuals; companies and organizations that have taken a proactive and innovative path in support of competitive sports programs for student athletes with physical disabilities. Through these programs, student athletes with physical disabilities across the nation reap the physical, social emotional and academic benefits of competitive athletics resulting in personal and social empowerment.
Winners are chosen through an application process; AAASP will accept nominations from April 20th–June 1st this year.ASPIRE Winners will be announced in late October.Anyone can nominate a Coach, Organization, Recreation Program, School or Volunteer that has made a significant contribution in any of the following categories:
- Advocacy Award – individual or organization
- Education-Based Award – school or school district program
- Community-Based Award – Recreation Department, YMCA, Club program or other
- Leadership Award – individual or organization
- Media Award – news organization
- The Gail Hendricks Volunteerism Award – individual
- Outstanding Male Athletes of the Year – individual participating in the program
- Outstanding Female Athletes of the Year – individual participating in the program
- High School Senior Athlete Award – individual
- Coach of the Year Award – individual participating in the program
- Leslie Sweatman Official of the Year Award – individual
To nominate a program or person, or to learn more about the awards, please visit: https://adaptedsports.org/aspire-award/.
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 physical disabilities attending grades 1-12.For more information, please visit our website at https://adaptedsports.org or join our conversations on Twitter at: @AdaptedSports.