Smiling students in sport wheelchairs play wheelchair rugby on a green tennis court

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Ahead of Paralympics, Kinesiology Event Spotlights Adaptive Sports on Grounds

Ahead of Paralympics, Kinesiology Event Spotlights Adaptive Sports on Grounds

The School of Education and Human Development's kinesiology program hosted a Wheelchair Takeover: Paralympic Pick-Up event to raise awareness of sports and physical activities available on Grounds for people with disabilities.

Traci Hale

April 24, 2024

Taking advantage of excitement building up for the Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, University of Virginia students were invited to participate in the first Wheelchair Takeover: Paralympic Pick-Up event, held Friday at the tennis courts outside Memorial Gymnasium.

Abby Fines, assistant professor of kinesiology in the School of Education and Human Development, and Matt Lowery, a doctoral student in the Kinesiology for Individuals with Disabilities program, created the event to raise awareness of sports and physical activities available on Grounds for people with disabilities.

“We thought this was a good opportunity to invite students who normally don’t experience adaptive sports to try out some sports and highlight some popular Paralympic sports students could see this summer watching the Games,” Lowery said.

Two students in sport wheelchairs play wheelchair rugby on a green outdoor tennis court — Wheelchair rugby became a medal sport in the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Summer Games, where the U.S. won the gold medal.

With the help of the UVA wheelchair tennis club and wrestling teams and local athletes, about 50 students were introduced to three different sports – wheelchair rugby, wheelchair pickleball and wheelchair basketball. With money from the Equipment Trust Fund, 15 sport wheelchairs were purchased, bringing the total to 23, which allows for larger groups to participate in adaptive sports opportunities.

“Some students were hesitant at first, but everyone left with a smile,” Lowery said.

Students play wheelchair rugby — Doctoral student Matt Lowery said while some of the UVA students were hesitant to play sports that were new to them, “everyone left with a smile.”

In addition to the experience of playing the sports, Lowery said events like this help grow an understanding that “para-athletes are athletes.”

“A big misconception of adaptive and Paralympic sports is that they are ‘less than’ – less challenging or less engaging compared to more common sports. Hopefully after playing on Friday, students know that these sports exist and can recognize that sport is simply sport, and most importantly that adaptive sports is sport.”

You can catch all the action from Paris when the Paralympic Games are held Aug. 28 through Sept. 8.