Inclusive Sports Day a Big Success
The Adapted Physical Education (APE) program collaborated with Long Beach State Athletics Tuesday, November 4th to host CSULB’s first annual Inclusive Sports Day. Working in-tandem with the Inclusive Sports Foundation and Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), more than 100 young adults with disabilities were brought on campus to engage in different outdoor sport activities on the baseball practice field.
“We brought in all kinds of modified equipment for our students with disabilities, and everyone had a great time,” said Dr. Melissa Bittner, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Co-Director of the APE program at Long Beach State. “Most of our Adapted Physical Education students know the LBUSD students from our transition practicum that takes place during the regular week.”
“Our APE program is one of the best in the entire country, in my opinion,” said college student Logan Cervantes, who is in her last year of study in the Adapted Physical Education program. “We get to have so many hands-on experiences and it has been really great working with Long Beach State Athletics at this event.”
Cameron Cecil – the Student-Athlete Development Coordinator for Long Beach State Athletics – asked Dr. Bittner and her students if they would join CSULB student-athletes to collaborate on an inclusive day of sport.
“Every election or voting day, the NCAA requires sports that are not competing in season to have an off-day of all athletic related activities – the incentive is to get them out to go vote, and to get them out in the community to be civically engaged,” Cecil said. “When our athletes check-in to the event, they are given a QR code to scan for voter registration information and voting locations, and are encouraged to go vote when they leave.”
Wanting to organize a more large-scale 'volunteer day' event this year, Cecil worked with the Inclusive Sports Foundation, LBUSD and the CSULB APE program to put on the Inclusive Sports Day event. In one corner, student-athletes were helping the participants with disabilities play mini golf. In another corner of the field there was a pickup t-ball game underway with LBSU Women's Softball. Student athletes from Men’s Volleyball, and Women’s Beach Volleyball teams, meanwhile, organized a modified volleyball tournament.
“I just knew we were in need for something like this to happen and so it kind of fell perfectly into place,” Cecil said. “[Our organizers] have been extremely helpful in bridging us with LBUSD and then I was able to get Dr. Bittner and her students involved as well. A lot of our student athletes are passionate about helping [people with disabilities], but they are not all equipped with the tools. So I think having the support from the APE students has been very beneficial – it has been a great collaboration across the board.”
