The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, Inc. (AAASP) has recognized 43 key people and organizations for their outstanding contributions to support student-athletes with physical disabilities to get “off the sidelines and into the game.” Former Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) athletic and activities director Ed Shaddix has been nominated for the Eli Wolff Award for Advocacy, and Oakland Meadow School Coaches Len Boudreaux and Lynette Swanson have been nominated for Junior Varsity Coach of The Year. All 43 individuals will be recognized during the fifth annual Adapted Sports Programs in Recreation and Education (ASPIRE) Awards Celebration on Sunday, October 22, at Maggiano's Little Italy in Buckhead, Ga. Patrick Cusick, an actor, writer, and television personality and Aaron Golub, the first-ever, legally blind Division I Athlete representing Tulane University, will emcee the event.

The ASPIRE Award recognizes the significant contributions of these individuals and organizations that have been central to the mission of making adapted sports programming available nationwide. Through these programs, student-athletes with physical disabilities across the country reap the physical, social, emotional, and academic benefits of competitive athletics, resulting in personal and social empowerment. Check out the complete listing here. 

The AAASP, headquartered in Atlanta, is a not-for-profit association dedicated to developing interscholastic adapted sports programs in partnership with national, state, and local educational agencies. It represents a standardized approach to extracurricular adapted team sports. It has developed one of the nation's most comprehensive school-based athletic programs for students with physical disabilities attending elementary, middle, and high school.