Adaptive Sports League comes to MHS
Middleton High School offers a plethora of sports and activities for its students.
Beginning this fall, though, school district officials have found another way to reach out to a segment of its population that was unable to participate in traditional sporting activities.
Welcome to the Adaptive Sports League, a high school sports program designed for students with disabilities to experience the benefits of a quality competitive sports program.
Head boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery and assistant girls basketball coach Jessica McIntosh, who are also physical education teachers at the school, said they are excited to be part of the new program.
“The Sun Prairie schools actually started it last year,” McIntosh said of Sun Prairie East and Sun Prairie West. “Our special education department was super interested because it was something that fills their cup.
“They were pretty, excited and wanted to get it started here. They connected with our athletic directors who said this is great, we’ve got your back, let’s start it.”
The new league offers a unique opportunity for ninth through 12th grade students with special needs to participate in high school varsity athletics.
Bavery is a long-time physical education teacher, while McIntosh is in her fourth year at Middleton. They both teach Specially Designed Physical Education together.
Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims said Bavery and McIntosh are a perfect fit for the new program.
“Kevin and Jess volunteered to apply when we got our proposal approved and up and running,” Sims said. “They showed some interest, and we were hoping they would do it anyway. It was exciting for us to have them already in place and willing to do it.”
What is the ASL?
The ASL provides students opportunities to develop their leadership, sportsmanship, teamwork, and character-building skills in three sports throughout the school year.
Middleton will offer soccer in the fall, floor hockey in the winter and whiffle ball in the spring.
Bavery and McIntosh will coach soccer and whiffle ball, while Matt Lane will coach floor hockey.
All three sports will be played indoors for easy accessibility for all athletes.
Athletes can choose to participate in one, two or three of the sports offered. Soccer currently has 15 student-athletes on its roster.
Seasons will be about six weeks long with four to six games scheduled, which will increase as more school districts are added.
Coaches will match skills of players when able, which makes for a competitive atmosphere.
Teams will meet two times per week for a combination of practices and games.
Bavery said when school officials reached out to gauge his interest in starting a program at Middleton, he was intrigued.
“We heard about it and immediately said we want to do it,” Bavery said while McIntosh nodded in agreement. “It’s something that’s exciting for us.
“We both coach basketball at MHS in the boys and girls programs, but having this opportunity with kids we've become so connected with in our SDPE class, the Best Buddies program, and other venues is a unique experience that we had to say ‘yes’ to.
“Jess brings a high level of expertise and passion to all of her teaching and coaching. We teach together in multiple aspects of the PE department and have become great colleagues and friends, so it was an easy decision to make in taking on this venture together.”
McIntosh agreed.
“We talked about it and were pretty excited about it,” she said. “We’re pretty, passionate about what we do.”
Who is involved?
The league provides a safe and competitive environment for athletes to showcase their talents while fostering school pride, extra-curricular activities, and recreation.
“They have physical and cognitive issues,” McIntosh said. “There doesn’t have to be a specific disability.”
Middleton assistant athletic director Brad Crandell said Sun Prairie designed it so that anyone with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) is eligible.
“But obviously, there are varsity athletes with IEPs and there are students playing basketball, softball and baseball,” Crandell said. “It’s a wide range, so they narrowed it down to physical disability, cognitive disability or safety concerns.
“If I can’t get hit is one of my disabilities, then I’m eligible to play. It’s a pretty, broad net to get students involved, a wide range, which is cool.”
Sims said while school district officials approved the program to be housed under athletics, the ASL has its own separate budget.
However, there is one major difference that Bavery and McIntosh didn’t have to wait long to experience.
“For those who coach varsity sports the scope of your athlete's abilities are relatively close level by level,” Bavery said. “Whereas we have a wider range of abilities in adaptive sports, so it's been fun early on in practice watching them all participate in a multitude of ways.”
Nikki Morehouse, Middleton’s Special Education Services Coordinator, said that while the Sun Prairie school districts were the first ones in Dane County to get involved, the more the merrier.
“They reached out to other schools in Dane County to join,” Morehouse said. “They were the only ones this last year. They competed East vs. West. So, this is the first year that us and some other Dane County schools are participating.”
“We had a meeting in June with athletic directors and coordinators. They’ve gotten to connect with the coaches and talk through what it looks like when you show up and you only have four kids or when you have a kid dominating the field. How do you balance that out.”
Joining Middleton this fall are DeForest and Waunakee High Schools, with hopes that the Monona Grove, Mount Horeb and Verona school districts will also soon follow.
“We learned the most from the Appleton and La Crosse parts of the state,” Morehouse said. “They really got Sun Prairie on board. Sun Prairie has continued to share their resources with all Dane County schools that are getting involved.”
Eye-opening experience
Bavery said there is no charge for the students to participate in the program.
But the experience is priceless.
“We had a picture night, and it was the most fun I’ve had on picture night in all my years of coaching,” he said.
Added McIntosh: “This is a varsity sport. They’ve got jerseys and team pictures. We’ll get them senior banners. This is a Middleton sport.
“When they got their jerseys, the looks on their faces were priceless. We gave them their jerseys, and they asked if they could take them home and if they get to keep them. They had fun picking the numbers. They were so excited. They loved it. They were excited to get their pictures taken and be part of a team.”
McIntosh said the program is rapidly drawing interest, but will need help from all corners of the building.
“It takes a village to make it work,” she said. “We have a lot of people helping us. It’s been a group effort.
“Families were so thankful. They’ve been waiting for something like this. This is a blessing. They’re super happy this is happening. They asked if there was anything we needed help with. They’re excited about it.”
Debut season
Middleton’s fall soccer season will include four games beginning at Sun Prairie East on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Games consist of two 20-minute periods with a running clock.
On Oct. 17, the Cardinals have their home opener against Waunakee during Homecoming Week.
Bavery said interest in the program has been inspiring.
“We participants might come from our specifically designed physical education class of about 20 kids,” Bavery said. “We have 15 who will play soccer and five are in our class. It is a natural tie-in.
“It is such a great experience. The kids are an absolute joy to be around. They have a mixed range of abilities.
“We have a student who uses a wheelchair who is on our soccer team. We're working with Justin Zander, a teacher in the Tech Ed Department, to create an attachment to the chair to help with the ability to move the soccer ball. We have students who are going to be in one season, two seasons or all three seasons and are at all capability levels.
“We learn from each other; we’ll be learning from other coaches where we go. Just because we are veteran coaches in our sports doesn’t mean that we’re going in with all the answers. That’s the other excitement. This is brand new to us as well.”
Morehouse said the program is a co-operative effort between the athletic and special education departments.
“It’s run like an athletic program,” she said. “They register, they have practice. There will be scorekeepers and officials. It is the real deal. Some of the kids are excited that we have an away game. They get to ride the bus to an away game. That is an experience they’ve never had.”
Crandell said the program has already paid dividends.
“We watched the first practice, and there were a lot of smiles,” he said. “There are a lot of kids in there who can’t do our typical offerings but are very much athletes. So, they get an outlet to do what they like to do, and it’s been fun to watch.”
