Outdoor Recreation Center | Photo by Shaddia Qasem | The Wright State Guardian
From wheelchair basketball to assisted exercise, adapted recreation at Wright State University offers activities for both people with disabilities and able-bodied students.
Overview
According to the Director of Recreation Billy Willis, adapted recreation has been serving the Wright State community since the 1990s; the needs of the community and the adapted recreation program itself are ever-changing as time passes.
“Back then, we did a lot more competitive teams, like wheelchair basketball and stuff like that, that would travel. So it looks a lot different now. But so do the needs of our population,” Willis said.
Willis noted the three main components to the adapted recreation program: exercise buddies, program trips and adapted intramurals.
Junior Erin Fitzgerald is the student manager for the adapted recreation program, one of 77 recreation employees who handle 93 recreation-related positions, according to Willis. Fitzgerald currently manages eight participants in this part of the program.
After interested students contact Willis about accommodation, Fitzgerald schedules exercise buddies according to students’ respective schedules. Fitzgerald explained that one student is paired with another student to provide assistance using exercise equipment.
“I do try to keep it within, like, nine to five just so people can have, like, the rest of the night and might not be up too early. But there’s no set times,” Fitzgerald said.
The second aspect of adapted recreation is the programs trips, which incorporate accommodation for disabilities.
“The second aspect of the program is we would do trips mainly locally that we’d go to bowling lanes or we would go skiing down at Perfect North. They have an adapted program to get people with disabilities on slopes. We’d go to the Air Force Museum or Cincinnati Reds game, something like that,” Willis said. “Since COVID, that part has not come back yet. But that is something you’re working on and looking to add, hopefully as soon as this semester.”
The third aspect, adapted intramurals, is open to all students. According to participant Kirstin Kennedy, activities include basketball, kickball and capture the flag.
While this is open to both students with disabilities and able-bodied students, a maximum of eight students participated at a given event last year, according to Kennedy.
“We encourage everyone to come to our trips when they’re offered,” Willis said. “The awareness is not there yet. We’re trying. We posted on social media a couple of times and stuff like that. I think a lot of our programs people aren’t aware of.”
Experience
As an able-bodied student, Kennedy finds joy in the weekly wheelchair intramural events on Wednesday nights.
“I had so much fun that first night, and I have just been coming back ever since,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy further mentioned uncomfortable encounters between the adapted recreation teams and the general public.
“It [adapted rec] does not get pushed as much as the other stuff, and when it is pushed, pictures are taken of us without our consent. People just randomly come up and take a picture of us and walk away. It’s really weird,” Kennedy said.
Despite these occurrences, the weekly intramurals have seen an increase in participation, according to Kennedy, growing from eight regular attendees last semester to an average of 12 this semester.
For more information about adapted recreations, students can visit the official program webpage or contact campus recreation at 937-775-5505.
