{"id":2564,"date":"2015-06-25T19:19:58","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T19:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/[caption%20id=attachment_2840%20align=alignright%20width=482]"},"modified":"2018-01-22T19:30:42","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T19:30:42","slug":"it-started-with-a-simple-question-why-cant-kids-with-disabilities-play-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazines.uthscsa.edu\/mission\/it-started-with-a-simple-question-why-cant-kids-with-disabilities-play-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking ‘why not?’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Health
Health Science Center alumnae Tracey Fontenot, \u201996, and Kacey Wernli, \u201994, saw a need for sports and recreation programs for special-needs children in San Antonio. In 2003, they founded Kinetic Kids, a nonprofit that serves 1,800 children.<\/strong>
Photos courtesy of Kinetic Kids<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It started with a simple question: Why can’t kids with disabilities play sports?<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>n 2001, Tracey Fontenot and Kacey Wernli, physical therapists working at a local San Antonio hospital, wondered how they could get their young patients with physical and developmental disabilities to be active past their therapy sessions. What if they formed a baseball team, using the UT Health Science Center\u2019s ball field? Would kids show up?<\/p>\n

Ten did.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we got out there, we saw the kids just come alive,\u201d said Fontenot, \u201996. \u201cThey felt so confident being part of a team. Their parents felt so happy to be able to watch their kids be able to do something active and to be able to be team parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The physical therapists decided to continue the experiment. Over the next two years, the baseball group grew by 40 more players. In 2003, their experiment became an official nonprofit called Kinetic Kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, there are 1,800 special-needs children participating in 106 sports and recreation programs offered year-round throughout San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Among the many programs offered are music, gymnastics, cheerleading, basketball, competitive swimming, flag football, golf and wheelchair tennis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with a question,\u201d Fontenot said. \u201cWe asked ourselves \u2018why not?\u2019 and we did something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of the staff, program directors and instructors are physical, occupational or recreational therapists. Of the 800 or so volunteers who help with classes each year, many are students from the Health Science Center\u2019s physical and occupational therapy programs.<\/p>\n

Although the sports and rec program isn\u2019t considered traditional physical or occupational therapy, \u201cwe\u2019re always thinking like therapists and are constantly working on maximizing their potential,\u201d said Wernli, \u201994. \u201cWe feel like the benefits of Kinetic Kids go beyond the health benefits. As they are out there participating in sports, they are also building relationships with people. They are having to take their turn and wait in line and do the things that other kids are doing in recreational sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re also building confidence, Fontenot said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that we\u2019re building future community members,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody here is going to play in the NFL or the MLB, but we\u2019re building people who are confident and can be leaders because of the skills they have learned through their sports. Sports is just the mechanism by which they are learning all these different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kinetic Kids has become a full-time job for the founders. And it\u2019s one they said they feel lucky to have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is never a day where we\u2019re dreading work. You just think of the kids you\u2019re serving and the smiles on their faces and work is easy after that,\u201d Fontenot said.<\/p>\n

Just as there was a clear need for Kinetic Kids in San Antonio, there is a similar need in communities throughout the country, they said. Fontenot and Wernli would like to create a playbook that other organizations can use to bring similar programs to their cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs people grow up and get married and start having families, we hope that they remember their childhood dreams of playing sports,\u201d Wernli said. \u201cI hope we inspire people to realize that every child has that dream [to play sports]. We can help make that dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

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