BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. (WEAU) – The Black River Falls Tigers have a new team to cheer for. The school now has a team making sure all students have the opportunity to be involved and compete. The team is making a difference on and off the court.
“I get to experience leadership and actually make friends,” James Young, an athlete on the team, said.
Through the swing of a bat and running to a base, there are 17 new athletes in the Black River Falls School District.
“In Black River Falls, there wasn’t this opportunity,” Jacob Schafer, the head coach of the Black River Falls Adaptive Sports League, said. “Kids with disabilities go to school and then go home.”
Now, through the adaptive sports team, the students get that opportunity.
“So we can play sports,” Samuel Sedelbauer, an athlete on the team, said. “Meet people.”
The league proves to these students they can be a part of a team just like anyone else.
“Kids with disabilities are told a lot of their life that they can’t do something. They can’t play a sport, they can’t go to college or whatever else,” Schafer said. “These kids can score a goal. You can hit the ball without a tee. You can communicate well and be an effective member and leader on this team.”
“It feels really nice to be a part of a team,” Young said. “Everyone in their certain way is special in handling certain tasks.”
The team is already making a difference in the lives of these athletes.
“Kids that get written up a lot, suddenly those write-ups go away. Kids that are really soft-spoken or really shy are now being asked about how practice is going, when their next game is by classmates,” Schafer said. “It’s been really amazing to see how much these kids have grown and how much the community has bought into the team.”
“He’s really come out of his shell in the last year, which is amazing,” Glenna Young, James’ mom, said. “It really helps them build their self-esteem. It helps them feel a sense of belonging.”
So whether playing soccer in the fall, floor hockey in the winter or baseball in the spring, all of these students know they have a place where they can belong. The Black River Falls Adapted Sports League was officially accepted into the Mississippi Valley Conference. Next year, they will regularly play against other times in the conference including Holmen, West Salem and La Crosse.
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