PROFESSIONAL Membership

The professional membership is designed for coaches and professionals, especially those working with students who have a physical disability or visual impairment, those who have completed the AAASP Coaches Education program and/or are practicing professionals in adapted PE, therapeutic recreational, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or a related educational field. 

LEVEL 1: $50 Annually

LEVEL 1 PROFESSIONAL Membership Level Benefits include:

• Discounts on trainings, webinars and training materials.
• Alerts on legislative initiatives with national implications that may affect their fields of practice as it relates to education-based adapted sports.
• Invitations to participate with other professionals in discussions or surveys designed to capture and publish best practices and ideas around equipment design and cost, programmatic needs, administrative policy and advocacy.

LEVEL 2: $100 Annually

LEVEL 2 PROFESSIONAL Membership Level Benefits include:

• In additional to Level 1 benefits, Level 2 Professionals may choose to participate in up to two of 4 free Webinars followed by Q&A, offered in a 90 minute online forum (Zoom, Google Teams), hosted on the first Thursday in February, May, August and November. Additional details under SCHOOL Membership below. Share your challenges and successes, seek input or offer support to/from colleagues. An AAASP staff member will also be available with news, updates and opportunities.

SCHOOL Membership

An individual school interested in or already engaging in offering  adapted sport opportunities to students with physical disabilities can now join us in building a vibrant community of colleagues engaged in programming, under similar circumstances, including those unaffiliated or as yet unrecognized by their state high school association.

Fee: $325 Annually

SCHOOL Membership Level Benefits include:

• Discounts on trainings, webinars and training materials.
• Alerts on legislative initiatives with national implications that may affect their fields of practice as it relates to education-based adapted sports.
• 5% Discounts on FlagHouse adaptedSPORTS® Sports Kits.
• Invitations to participate with other professionals in discussions or surveys designed to capture and publish best practices and ideas around equipment design and cost, programmatic needs, administrative policy and advocacy.
• Access to administrative forms and documents including sample and customizable liability releases, registration packets, medical assessments (for physicians), score sheets, incident reports, game score sheets, team rosters.
• Opportunities to join in bulk purchase savings (wheelchairs).
• Quarterly opportunities to connect with other colleagues in a 90 minute online forum (Zoom, Google Teams) hosted on the first Thursday in February, May, August and November. Share your challenges and successes, seek input or offer support to/from colleagues. Guest Hosts may include AAASP Cofounders, Bev Vaughn and Tommie Storms, State Adapted Sports Coordinators, researchers, SHSA representatives, parent advocates and politico who have fought for legislation or educational policy on their states in support of adapted sports. Subjects (may be presented by guest hosts) include:
• • Identifying and recruiting athletes.
  • Working with your school administrators.
  • Funding Models in Interscholastic Adapted Sports.
  • Leave No One Behind: Working across your community to create opportunity and partner with others.
  • Open Forum: A Q&A session where members discuss the issues most affecting their program efforts and suggest future topics or ongoing topics.

STATE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION (SA) Membership

AAASP works with State Associations in a number of ways, depending on their level of interest and need

Fee: TBD*  

*based on the expressed need and level of engagement the SA desires in its Alliance with AAASP.  

The Adapted Sports Interscholastic Alliance (ASIA), is an Alliance partnership between AAASP and the State Associations (SA). This means these SA’s are engaged in a relationship with AAASP to bring and/or maintain an adaptedSPORTS® infrastructure that is fully realized and functioning across their state.

Here how it works:

In many traditional associations, each school or high school might pay a membership fee to the State Association (SA) for specific rights, benefits and services. Similarly, adaptedSPORTS ® programs are supported through fees, paid by school “districts” (or applicable “grouping of schools”, however named or identified in the state). These are paid pre-season and allow eligible students with a qualifying disability (at any school within the “district” if state association participation rules permit) to participate.  Qualifying students may join their “district team,” if team sports are offered. These fees cover a bundled package of services and include, but are not limited to, the services listed below. These services are governed by AAASP and the SA, managed locally by a certified AAASP State Coordinator (working either as an employee of AAASP or within the SA, whichever is locally preferred) in providing for the needs of its member programs.

Several funding models have been used in supporting adaptedSPORTS® as a component of the existing interscholastic athletics infrastructure of SA’s. 

• In Georgia, where AAASP has implemented and sustained a fully realized protyle since 1996, programs across the state are funded through a cooperative between AAASP, utilizing its “district” association fees, funds from the state’s Department of Education and the Georgia High School Association. The three levels of funding are roughly equivalent to one third of the costs to maintain these “bundled” services across the state.
• In at least one state, the state legislature imposed a $125 per school “activity fee” resulting in over $500,000 to the SA to cover the salary of their State Coordinator and for all bundled services to the membership.
• In each of these scenarios (there are others), the school district remains responsible for coaching stipends, equipment, facilities, and fees to game officials, just as with their traditional boys and girls teams – though, over the course of the school year, their “district” will likely see no more than a handful of teams forming, comprised of students from across their entire system.

Services provided within the Association fees:

• The fee may encompass all elementary, middle, and high schools and their students in the “district”, if SA participation rules permit.
• The fee allows for participation over a 10-week sport season and makes eligible every school and students in the district. (This may include charter and magnet schools, as determined locally by state law or the SA, and not by AAASP).
• Not every district will be an Association member. In many cases, it may be determined that too few students exist in the “program area” – as noted in the Need Assessment process – to allow for formation of adapted team sports. Where no team sports are offered, the Alliance nonetheless provides for all students though individual sports such as track and field.
• The fee allows for up to 4 teams per district, per sport, in any division (varsity or junior varsity), to participate without additional cost.
• The fee provides for up to two (2) coaches per team, (1) district coordinator and one (1) school administrator (athletic or special education director, for example) to attend or audit the trainings each pre-season, without additional costs, to include all training manuals and materials.
• The fee also provides for three (3) officials trainings, one preceding each sport season.
• Where an individual student has declared interest in track and field or another individual sport (approved by the SA). AAASP is responsible to work to provide information and training to the coach who will be working with the student(s). After year three, this becomes the duty of the SA, as AAASP will have trained and transferred that training to their local and/or state Coordinator.

Distribution of Duties and Responsibilities

AAASP Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Provides an organizational structure and leadership to enable and facilitate statewide competition in school-based adapted sports.
2. Serves as the state’s regulatory agency and governing organization in Alliance with the SA, overseeing all aspects associated with interscholastic adapted sports for students with physical disabilities including eligibility requirements and safety guidelines.
3. Ensure programs meet state and federal compliance guidelines and mandates.
4. Assist members with all phases of program implementation and offers ongoing support and technical assistance in all program areas.
5. Write and provide competition rules for each adapted sport.
6. Develop, provide, and enforce inclusive procedures and administrative policies.
7. Conduct educational trainings for coaches, game officials, school coordinators and administrators for each adapted sport.
8. Produce all documentation for schools, including registration packets with appropriate releases.
9. Produce and publish rule books, parent-athlete handbooks, coaches education program materials, teacher’s guides and videos in support of the coaching, administrator and officials training and education programs.
10. Represent members at the state and national level in regard to providing equal opportunity in extracurricular athletic programs for students with physical disabilities.
11. Establishes season dates.
12. Conduct Sports Technical Committee meetings to review input from member programs regarding possible rule changes, oversee recommendations.
13. Negotiate bulk purchasing with vendors for reduced cost on wheelchairs and other adapted equipment.
14. Collection of seasonal and annual data from Members for planning, documentation of outcomes and reporting requirements.
15. Performs initial state-wide needs assessments for members to reduce or increase services and programs where population and attrition dictate.
16. Develop testing materials (often in cooperation with third-parties that may include partnering State Departments of Education, university faculty with expertise in program evaluation) for use by members in determining and documenting program benefits.
17. Provide wheelchair track and field rules and training for coaches who have athletes competing on their high school track and field team competing in the wheelchair division through the Georgia High School Association.
18. Provides access to carriers who offer liability and participant insurance at deep discounts when the AAASP Model is employed.

SA/AAASP STATE COORDINATOR Duties and Responsibilities::

1. Ensure programs meet state and federal compliance guidelines and mandates.
2. Preside over and rule on appeals by teams of members school systems and investigate and rule on disputes.
3. Conduct mandatory rules clinics for coaches for each sport.
4. Provide for the training of game officials.
5. Determine appropriate team placement in either the junior varsity or varsity divisions in cooperation with each local school systems area coordinator, schedule all games, officials, and post schedules, venues, directions, and game results on AAASP web site.
6. Host state championship events for each adapted sport and pay costs associated with game officials, and awards.
7. Produces competition schedules, state championship dates, data collection forms, referee time sheets, and all necessary forms for schools as required by the Alliance.
8. Conduct state-wide area coordinator meetings, attended by member school systems for the purpose of reviewing overall program needs, policies and procedures related to adapted sports teams, training needs and competition rules.
9. Collect seasonal and annual data for planning, documentation of outcomes and state reporting requirements.
10. Perform ongoing state-wide needs assessments, using AAASP guidelines) to reduce or increase services and programs where population and attrition dictate.
11. Utilize testing materials in determining and documenting program benefits.
12. Disseminate and enforce inclusive procedures and administrative policies.