CSU Cougar Sports Academy
This project's parent organization is Chicago State University
It operates in United States
It uses Multiple sports
More about CSU Cougar Sports Academy
This project uses Paralympic and latter day sport to tackle a specific social issue in Chicago. The last vestiges of institutionalized and socially acceptable discrimination toward people with disabilities are present in high school and elementary school sports programs. If a student has a physical disability or a visual impairment and does not have an intellectual disability, he or she does not have the access to sport through the schools that his or her non-disabled or intellectually impaired peers have. Therefore, these boys and girls never have the opportunity to benefit from participation in sport and, at graduation, are on a less competitive footing than their peers.
According to the Alliance for Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities there are 1.5 million first through twelfth graders with physical impairments that are not included in athletic competitions and sports are an effective intervention for addressing the obesity epidemic that is especially problematic for individuals with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities who participate in sports have higher self?esteem, better body images and higher rates of academic success. They are more confident and more likely to graduate from high school and matriculate in college and experience greater career success and more options.