The Wake

“Our mission is to encourage, facilitate and support the involvement of University of Minnesota students and staff with disabilities in active recreation, exercise and sport,” says John Lukanen, president of the adaptive sports club.

The University already offers a disabled student cultural center where students can go to socialize or study, providing learning opportunities for all students, ensuring an accessible environment and ultimately serving as a social area for disabled and non-disabled students. The new adaptive sports program takes that idea a step further and looks at a broad range of athletic activities. Lukanen’s mission is to bring an athletic presence to the University for disabled students.

Lukanen has worked hard on its website, logo and recruitment since Sept. and he says he is looking for anyone who can help with planning, fundraising and managing.

“Anything anyone wants to do would be helpful,” Lukanen says. His goal is to start a wheelchair basketball team.

The U of M is not far behind in the idea of having an adaptive sports team but they aren’t the first. Universities that have adaptive sports teams are popping up all over the nation. Schools in Texas, Ariz. and Ill. even offer scholarships to students for sports like wheelchair basketball or tennis.

Wheelchair basketball began with the Veterans Administration more than 40 years ago as a rehabilitation program. Today the game has grown extremely popular. There are leagues and more than 180 teams all over the nation.

The Adaptive Sports Association, started in 1983 by Dave Spencer, includes snowboarding, skiing and white water rafting. The ASA provides nationally certified instructors in all areas. According to their website, “Through sports and recreation, participants meet positive role models, increase socialization skills, improve body image and combat depression.”

For now, the adaptive sports club meets mainly to hang out. They have played a few sports as a group such as ultimate disc and go ball, which is basically baseball blindfolded. But if they do start a wheelchair basketball team, they would compete with Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, two of the closest Universities that already have teams.

“The great thing about it is that anyone can play,” Lukanen says. It doesn’t matter what your disability is or if you even have one—it’s not set up for a specific group of people.

“We are bringing the entire University together,” he says.