ABLE Youth

ABLE Youth is the only organization of its kind in Middle Tennessee to provide opportunities for youth who use wheelchairs in fusing learning independence skills and sports. Above all else, we strive for our participants to learn the importance of independence in all activities of daily living, which in turn, leads to self-esteem, motivation and a desire to excel.

The children are taught The ABLE Way – to Adapt, Believe, Love and Enjoy life. Super Sports Saturdays, held once a month at the Williamson County Recreation Center, is the cornerstone of ABLE Youth. Our youngest preschool Tiny Tots start with learning wheelchair mobility, transfers, and how to perform other self-care routines. Older children are introduced to advanced chair skills, household chores, and problem-solving skills as it pertains to independent living. Super Sports Saturdays also introduces children to sports, such as basketball, tennis, and wheelchair racing, just to name a few, as we’re continuously adding new sports.

Not all of our participants are full-time wheelchair users, but all have lower limb disabilities that make instruction in independence skills using a wheelchair and wheelchair sports beneficial. Older children are also invited to our yearly weekend-long Independence Camp and to other independence-building opportunities. As a child shows grown in independence skills and initiative, he/she is invited to join our sports teams and instructional clinic opportunities.

Through the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (nwba.org), ABLE Youth fields a Prep and Varsity wheelchair basketball team that practices from August through April and travels to tournaments throughout the region. ABLE Youth also has a wheelchair track and field program that participates regional meets. These meets often include additional sports. Other sports opportunities include tennis, waterskiing, road racing, and adaptive rock climbing. ABLE Youth promotes not only physical fitness, but also emotional and mental wellbeing and self esteem.

All children are not going to be competitive in sports, but all ABLE Youth participants are athletes in a bigger and more important game, the game of life. The children are given instruction on life skills to improve their odds of success as they grow into adulthood. Our goal is for all participants to graduate high school and to go on to college or to enter the workforce, while living as independently as possible.

The ABLE Youth program has impacted the lives of over 350 children and families since we began in 1997 and currently serves 60-65 children helping to improve their quality of life. We pride ourselves on showing the children and parents just what CAN be accomplished from a wheelchair. ABLE Youth, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and is funded through private contributions, corporate gifts, grants and events.