Iowa nonprofit Can Play empowers communities for inclusive recreation
“Tonight, we’re going to work on building strong muscles and fast feet!” Melissa Clarke-Wharff calls out to a group of pre-teens warming up for 45 minutes of fitness fun.
Can Play’s adaptive programming is underway alongside other weeknight sports practices at the RecPlex in West Des Moines, Iowa. Volunteer coaches facilitate hopscotch, ball handing, and flag football as family members and caregivers chat on the sidelines.
“My kid’s nailing it in Special Olympics because of Melissa,” Marianne Crandall gushes while she watches her son, Cain, run across the court. Now 14, he first connected with Can Play programming as a preschooler. She credits the nonprofit organization with giving Cain the confidence to join his middle school basketball team, too. He has grown alongside the organization.
Thanks to more than a decade of success, Can Play now licenses its adaptive-sports model with resources tailored to meet the specific needs of kids, teens, and adults. Participants meet for four-week sessions that focus on strengthening skills and making friends.
Simple equipment tweaks and short bursts of structured and supported activities attract Can Play participants like 12-year-old Vivien. Although she no longer qualifies for physical therapy, her diagnosis and low muscle tone would make playing on a traditional sports team tricky.
“This is the first place to meet her where she’s at, push her to where she can go, and have fun along the way,” says Vivien’s mom, Liz Haertel. “She gets to have something on the calendar that isn’t a doctor’s appointment.”
Encouraging cheers fill the gymnasium as youth of all abilities progress through the training stations. Some use walkers or leg braces. Others need help to refocus when it’s their turn. When the kids come off the court for a water break, they’re all smiles.
Growing Demand For Adaptive Sports
Clarke-Wharff, Can Play’s cofounder, got her start in adaptive recreation as a mom on a mission. Her son Jack suffered multiple strokes at age 8 that resulted in physical and intellectual disabilities.
“When Jack finished [physical and occupational] therapy, he got disengaged,” Clarke-Wharff says. “His therapists told me we wouldn’t see much more progression and gave me a 47-page home-therapy guide.”
Prior to his strokes, Jack participated in Little League and the YMCA League. He wanted to play on a team again and be like his siblings. But Clarke-Wharff couldn’t find year-round opportunities that served kids like her son. So, she set out to level the playing field for people with physical, cognitive, or emotional disabilities or chronic health conditions.
In 2011, she founded an Iowa-based nonprofit to help people living with barriers be active and share a sense of belonging.
Today, one in five kids living in the United States—more than 14.5 million children total—has special healthcare needs, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. Unfortunately, parents across the country still struggle to find inclusive recreation opportunities. Some Can Play families travel up to 100 miles to take part in programs.
Individuals with disabilities can benefit from year-round recreation. However, many isolated programs don’t provide the continuity the disability community craves.
Participant data point to play as a powerful promoter of well-being. According to Can Play surveys, 92 percent of kids who engaged in the organization’s programs demonstrated improvements in their overall health. Ninety-four percent reported decreased medications and doctors’ appointments, 92 percent improved overall sleep, and 98 percent improved school attendance and performance. Social and emotional well-being also rose in 97 percent of those surveyed.
“Our program has been based on my conversations with the therapists over the years,” Clarke-Wharff says. “We want to enhance what participants are doing therapeutically. We're not replacing it.”
Licensing Its Adaptive-Recreation Model
Over the past decade, Can Play fine-tuned its programs and developed a following among families. Now, the nonprofit is expanding its reach. Licensing its adaptive programs will help communities across the country create safe, supportive, and accessible environments.
Clarke-Wharff and her team piloted their tools with nearby parks and recreation partners who were eager to expand their offerings beyond Miracle League, which involves event-based scrimmages. Altering the pace, equipment, and structure of sports like soccer, basketball, and DiamondBall (baseball/softball) extended the season at those special-use facilities. Programs can also take place indoors in multipurpose spaces with flat flooring.
"We talked about adding more adaptive sports, but just didn't know where to start,” says Laura Stanish, a recreation coordinator with the City of Waukee. Stanish completed Can Play training to implement inclusive soccer programming for a variety of age groups.
"Following the structure every week helped,” Stanish says. “They have behavior-management strategies and various ways to combat boredom and to keep the kids really engaged. Their curriculum was super-solid and easily customizable to our staffing and participant needs.”
Programs are structured to ensure each participant can excel based on his or her strengths. The curriculum offers tips for working with those who fall under four different adaptation descriptors. "Energy to Burn” caters to athletes on the autism spectrum. Participants in “Every Move Counts” use assistive devices like walkers. Those “On a Roll” are in self-propelled wheelchairs, while “Power Up” is for those in powered chairs.
Can Play encourages coaches to segment participants into groups. Its principle of LIKEability™ sorts people with similar abilities together to work through specially adapted stations for individual paces of play. PLAYability™ divides participants of varying abilities equally to balance team play or group game(s).
“We have found that using typical PE equipment has been more favorable to the kids because it transcends into school or the playground,” Clarke-Wharff says.
Can Play’s Adapted Licensing will introduce more communities to training resources, marketing materials, and adaptive expertise. Rural clusters can operate under a common license to serve areas with smaller populations. Although they primarily serve youth, the programs can also bring structured movement to adult day programs.
“Children and adults with disabilities should have the opportunity to grow with an active lifestyle, develop new abilities, foster belief in themselves, and the capacity to engage in play," Clarke-Wharff says.
