DeKalb County School District (DCSD) joined nine other school districts in Georgia as recipients of ASPIRE grants by the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP).

DCSD’s adapted sports program will receive $25,942.31 through the grant, according to a news release. The funds can be used to purchase sports wheelchairs and adapted equipment for students and student-athletes with physical disabilities.

Officials from AAASP said the group recently celebrated its 25th year in Georgia as the infrastructure that makes it possible for school systems and school co-ops to implement and sustain programs in adapted athletics, health and fitness in a league format – similar to how Georgia High School Association (GHSA) handles high school sports in Georgia.

AAASP officials said the awarded school systems—including DCSD—have provided “access to athletics to the physically-disabled through their programs for years, which makes these grants so significant to update equipment and fulfill needs of the growing programs.”

The grants will also help expand AAASP programs to other areas of the state, according to the press release.

“This is what the new inclusion looks like in athletics,” said AAASP Cofounder and Executive Director Tommie Storms. “Students with a physical disability who can’t participate on a traditional team at school should absolutely have access to that opportunity. But more often … there is the additional option of adapted sports where the disabled are afforded the same rights and opportunities as their non-disabled peers to compete for titles and enjoy the benefits of better health through regular exercise.”

AAASP currently supports a yearlong schedule of athletics, which DeKalb’s adapted sports program—the DeKalb Silver Streaks—participates in. Student athletes practice weekly with games held on Saturdays during each of the 10-week seasons – including wheelchair handball in the fall, wheelchair basketball in the winter, and wheelchair football in the spring.

A partnership between GHSA and AAASP supports a playoff format and state championship for each of the seasons.

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