Adapted Sports League
While athletics are often, and justifiably, trumpeted as a necessary component of the high school experience to build character and camaraderie, for some, this isn't always completely possible due to the obstacles disabilities can cause.
But as it has always done, the city of Oshkosh adapts. This past Thursday, the West adaptive sports team took on their Oshkosh North peers in a competitive game of soccer. Korey Kleinhans is the man responsible for creating the Adaptive Sports League.
“This year is the first year we have had the Adaptive Sports League,” he said.
The newly organized league builds on past events and experiences in a way that broadens opportunities for students.
“Originally we had the Special Olympics, but this is more of a competitive atmosphere and [allows us] to be a part of the athletic department as a school sponsored sport,” he said.
The league provides a pathway for disabled students to have the same experiences as the rest of the student body.
“This provides a more equal opportunity so students with disabilities are able to perform in a sport just like any other athlete in the athletic department,” he said. “This provides them with a program they need to be successful and it gets them to be physically active after school, which is our main purpose and goal.”
Currently, students in the program have a few choices for participation.
“This encompasses three sports. The fall sport is indoor soccer and then in January we start indoor floor hockey,” he said. “Then, in May, we will add indoor baseball which is an indoor wiffle ball, so everything is inside the gyms due to weather purposes, and it’s easier to keep them in a certain area.”
The league runs throughout all seasons doing sports that all the students can enjoy. In doing so, they allow for the students to practice and play several different sports. This allows different students to participate in the sports they enjoy, but at the same time, they don’t have to play the sports they don’t care for. The idea for the league emerged from a combination of places for Kleinhans.
“I got the idea from La Crosse and did my graduate program at UWO. They got this from the Minnesota Adaptive Sports League,” he said. “Minnesota runs a varsity and jayvee, but their schools are massive compared to what we run here. At La Crosse they have one team just like we have, and they will rotate athletes in every five minutes, similar to what we do.”
Kleinhans saw how the program had taken off in other areas of Wisconsin and wanted to attempt to give the students in Oshkosh the same opportunities.
“As of now it is just West and North, but there are teams on the west side of Wisconsin and they have their own four way conference,” he said. “We eventually want to build our own four way conference”
Although it is still in the beginning of its life in other areas of the state, these leagues have grown and become something that all those involved can be proud of.
“I figured we don’t have any programs on the east side of the state, and I know that Sun Prairie was working on something. I also got a few calls from Fond du Lac as well, so hopefully we can start picking up here as soon as we get some publicity,” he said.
As the program is beginning to take off, Kleinhans has started to receive more questioning from others and hopes they can expand the program outside of the Oshkosh Area School District. Kleinhans is thankful for the students and parents who show up to support the league.
“Thank you everyone for supporting us and I hope we can get some more high school students to come support the program, as well as helping get our athletes more recognized throughout the school, which would be more beneficial for this program.”
By Lily Fournier
Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 2
November 1st, 2021