CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — During a sunny afternoon on Grounds last month, University of Virginia students had the opportunity to experience adaptive sports like wheelchair basketball, tennis and pickleball as well as blind soccer.

The event was called “Rec ‘n’ Roll” and was organized by the university’s School of Education and Human Development’s Department of Kinesiology. The aim of the event was to put together a field day in which students would learn and participate in adaptive sports, with the slogan of “sport is sport.”

For its organizers in the Kinesiology department, Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Abby Fines and PhD student Matt Lowery, adaptive sports have been a passion of theirs for years.

“It’s always been about kind of what sport has done for me,” Lowery told Cville Right Now, “and then recognizing that a lot of people don’t have that same access or don’t get those same opportunities to get the benefits that I got out of sport, out of physical activity.”

The department put together a similar field day event last year called “Roll with Jim,” a spinoff of the popular “Run with Jim” events with then-University President Jim Ryan. “Rec ‘n’ Roll” continued the concept with some adjustments, and Fines and Lowery hope it can continue to be an annual event moving forward.

“We look forward to next year,” Fines said, “and hopefully keeping the same name, ‘Rec ‘n’ Roll,’ from here on out.”

One of the big changes the organizers made this year was they increased their community engagement, reaching out to a number of organizations to see if they’d be interested in joining in and supporting the event.

“We really tried to invite other community organizations that have similar missions to ‘Rec ‘n’ Roll’ to come support us through tabling,” Lowery said.

Those organizations included Richmond-based Beyond Boundaries, which offers outdoor adventures for the local disability populations, Wintergreen Adaptive Sports as well as some local programs like the YMCA, the Parkinson’s Activity and Resource Center (PARC) and Therapeutic Adventures. The additions of the organizations was a change Lowery said he was personally excited for, as it allowed students to learn about ways to further get involved.

“Last year, we had the sports which was great,” he said. “But [we] felt like students really didn’t know where else to turn so hopefully students were able to learn about some other opportunities that they could get involved through that.”

In addition to the local organizations, Fines and Lowery invited some para-athletes to play alongside the students.

This year’s event was also more scheduled, rather than the more free-for-all format of “Roll with Jim.” That change led to participants arriving at the event in teams of four to six and rotating through sports. Fines said the change was one they are hoping to keep for next year.

“People were able to try things together and kind of improve, even if it was different sports throughout,” she said. “Your first time in a wheelchair can be tricky because you’re learning a new skill and how to push a chair while you’re also playing a sport. But by the end of the event. our hope is that every time becomes a little more comfortable and you can really appreciate the sport each time.”

Overall, both Fines and Lowery called this year’s event a success and are already looking forward to next year. In the meantime, both are continuing to look for ways to share their passion for adaptive sports with their students and others. In addition, Fines said they hope to continue to invite community organizations and para-athletes to “Rec ‘n’ Roll” to ensure it remains a community event.

“If we can just plant seeds, especially within our kinesiology department, that everybody’s going to work alongside or with people with disabilities and if you can think back at the time that you played sports with them, that’s even better,” she said.