Inclusive Sports

The Inclusive Sports Project seeks to expand inclusive sports opportunities and promote equitable access to physical activity and recreational opportunities for youth with disabilities in Ohio schools, included alongside their peers without disabilities, to improve overall health, physical fitness, and decrease the risk of chronic disease.

GRC, with funding support from the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council (Ohio DD Council), is working in collaboration with an advisory committee of individuals with disabilities, family members of individuals with disabilities, and disability advocates with expertise in inclusive sports and universal design to plan an accessible statewide needs assessment of the status of inclusive sports in Ohio schools and develop an inclusive sports training with associated tools and resources to pilot in Ohio schools in partnership with the Creating Healthy Communities program. The project will aim to answer the question: does the training developed through this project increase the number of student athletes with disabilities included in school sports or other physical activity opportunities? It is expected that the results of this project will create change that improves the independence, productivity, and inclusion of individuals with disabilities and their families in community life through identifying new approaches to expand inclusive sports opportunities for Ohio youth with disabilities.

This project is supported, in part by the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council, under grant number 23CH01FA23 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.