Teen’s Adaptive Sports Program for Youth with Disabilities
“Really seeing the joy and the growth of youth with disabilities that we were able to serve… really reminds you of like what the whole reason behind all this work was for – that joy and that growth was the most important thing”
Keren Chen was a recipient of the Centre for Community Engaged Learning’s Connect to Community Grant in 2023-2024 school year.
Project Description
Although affordable sports programs are often available for younger children with disabilities, these programs frequently have age cutoffs that shut out older youth with disabilities (YWD) from participating. Keren’s project collaborated with the Taking Strides Children Foundation to increase accessibility of summer programs for older YWD by offering sports sessions led by professional coaches experienced in working with this population and pairing every youth with a student mentor to offer personalized support for each child to thrive.
Community Partner Description
From the Taking Stride’s Vancouver Website: Taking Strides is a student-run initiative that emphasizes refining and promoting physical literacy for children with mental and physical disabilities. Our inclusive program features 1-on-1 pairing with a passionate student volunteer that spends one day every week working on fine and gross locomotor movements with your child – including an emphasis on social interaction and development of sports skills.
Lessons Learned
In recalling what she learned about herself during her project, Keren shared three important lessons learned: “Number 1: Set realistic expectations for yourself. Number 2: If things don’t work out, celebrate the small successes. And I wanted to make it a nice number 3… Have fun!”
Project Outcomes
Keren shared how her Connect to Community project met a need for YWD in our local communities: “After a certain age, like 13 or 14, there’s often an age cut off [for sports programs] and so a lot of the times, these older youth, they get shut out, and they don’t have as many programs accessible to them to get active and explore sports.”
“With this project, we were able to have a profound impact on the community being one of the very first adaptive sport programs to be established in Vancouver for YWD. By the end of [the program], [these youth] were participating, showing good sportsmanship, and just having a blast playing sports with their mentors and other youth with disabilities. This is just the start – being one of the very first programs. It shows that this is completely possible and that it is a much needed resource in the community.”
“Really seeing the joy and the growth of youth with disabilities that we were able to serve… really reminds you of like what the whole reason behind all this work was for – that joy and that growth was the most important thing.”
Advice for Future Applicants
For students considering applying for a CCEL Grant, Keren offers some valuable advice:
“Ensure what you’re doing is something that you are truly passionate about and are going to be driven to do. Let’s be honest, I don’t think you want to spend a whole summer organizing something you’re not really passionate about, right? Really spend some time reflecting on your previous experiences and your personal values and what’s important to you. For example, in my past, I really love to learn and be able to increase the accessibility of education for youth and other peers like me.”
“I think a lot of that translated over eventually to my project because I was able to puruse a project that allowed me to increase accessibility to physical literacy, physical education. I don’t think I would have been as happy or fulfilled doing anything else and I don’t think I would have been able to write such a good grant application and actually get funding to do my budget. So, I would encourage other grant applicants to really do some self-reflection and think about what’s important to them. To make sure that they choose what’s right for them before they start their application.”
Information about CCEL Grants
If you are a student interested in leading your own UBC CCEL project, you can learn more about the application process here. Year round advising for grant projects and applications are available via Zoom or in-person at our office on the UBC Vancouver office from Monday to Friday. For more information about year round advising, please email us at community.learning@ubc.ca to book an appointment.