SUNY Oneonta Students Volunteer at Adaptive Basketball Clinic

Twenty-seven SUNY Oneonta students volunteered at the annual Adaptive Basketball Clinic on campus, created through a partnership between the Sport and Exercise Sciences department and EDD Adaptive Sports. The event, held in the Alumni Field House on April 12 from 12 to 2 p.m., allowed area residents with varying intellectual and adaptive disabilities to hone their skills in basketball through different technical and shooting drills.

SUNY Oneonta's Sport and Exercise Sciences department has developed a relationship with EDD Adaptive Sports, a non-profit organization that offers adaptive sports programs to children and adults with any disability. EDD Adaptive Sports' programs allow people of all ages to participate in a variety of free athletic and sport-related activities, including basketball, biking, kayaking, soccer, swimming, pickleball, rowing and yoga. This was the third year that SUNY Oneonta and EDD Adaptive Sports worked together to make the basketball clinic a successful day for everyone involved.

Twenty-one of the student volunteers were from the SUNY Oneonta men's and women's basketball teams. The basketball teams picked the drills they wanted to teach to EDD's athletes, resulting in a rotation through five stations that focused on skills like dribbling, shooting and passing. With participant ages ranging from early childhood to late adolescence, modified basketball hoops and other equipment allowed every athlete to maximize their performance.

Among the student volunteers were Exercise Science seniors Emilia Montgomery and Alana Batson, who provided training to the other volunteers on how to interact and work with the EDD athletes. Montgomery is also on SUNY Oneonta's field hockey team, and Batson was one of the volunteers from the women's basketball team.

"Emilia and Alana were integral in the training and organization of this event," said Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Katherine Griffes, Ph.D. "Both students have been involved in the development of adaptive sport events in the past, and it was impressive to see them step up into leadership roles for this program. Their academic and professional experiences absolutely prepared them for their new roles, and their roles as student athletes ensured they recognize and value the importance of creating inclusive sport environments."

"I want to be an occupational therapist when I grow up. So I took the lead with this because it's something that I'm extremely passionate about," said Montgomery. "Ensuring that everybody has fair access and availability to playing sports and using my role through being a field hockey player here at Oneonta is important to me. I've really tried to make that a part of my time here and just involving myself, involving the community and students with disabilities as much as I can."

"There are limited opportunities for people with physical and cognitive disabilities to get out there and be active," said Batson, who is studying to become a physical therapist. "This is just creating more opportunities for them to have fun and be active in a safe environment. So that's pretty much what we've been saying in the training. The primary focus is to have fun, let them have fun, and provide a safe space for them to get active and have a good time."