Parks & Rec Spotlight: Adaptive program allows kids of all abilities to play sports

When AJ Miller, athletics coordinator for Bedford County Parks & Recreation, was in high school, she got the opportunity to assist in a physical education class for special needs children.

“I just fell in love with it,” Miller said. “I knew when I started working with Bedford County Parks & Recreation I wanted to do the same thing.”

In early 2023, after conversations with supervisors and lots of planning, Miller and the Parks & Rec staff debuted the Adaptive Sports program. They started with basketball and had about 11 children participate. Later in the year, they added fall soccer to the lineup.

“We run the Adaptive Sports program sort of like a camp,” said Miller, explaining that they don’t have enough children yet to form teams but that’s the eventual goal.

They asked Travis Thomas if he would be interested in taking the lead as the coach. Thomas is also an officer with the Bedford Police Department. He has 13 years of coaching experience.

“After hearing the good news that they wanted to make basketball available to children with disabilities, I was honored,” Thomas said. “Coaching basketball has taught me so much and everything I’ve learned I’ve poured back into my athletes. My passion comes from being able to teach life through basketball.”

Thomas usually starts the Adaptive Sports basketball camps with stretching and warm-ups, then he moves on to skills.

“With basketball at any level, the fundamentals are what is important. Dribbling, passing, shooting, layups, defensive skills like footwork,” he explained.

After working on skills, the children will scrimmage against each other. Then, at the end of the camp, parents are invited out on the court to play against their children.

Thomas says he sees a different kind of progress with this group—it’s more focused on how they interact.

“The improvement I’ve seen on the court is having children come together and be able to be so happy being social with other kids,” Thomas said.

Miller says they are looking forward to seeing the Adaptive Sports program expand in the future.

“It’s growing – we’ve already seen some new faces since starting it up so that’s exciting,” said Miller.

The Adaptive Sports basketball program takes place on Sundays in January and February. If you or someone you know is interested in joining, email AJ Miller at ajmiller@bedfordcountyva.gov.