Thursday, October 1, 2026
Valley Stream School District 13 has received a $25,000 grant from Bridge-stone to create adaptive-sports opportunities for students with disabilities, making it one of just eight school districts and nonprofit partners nationwide selected in the tire company’s second round of adaptive-sports funding.
The grant is part of Bridgestone’s Adaptive Sports in Schools initiative, which provides $200,000 in total funding through the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund. Each of the eight recipients received $25,000. The latest grants bring Bridgestone’s two-year investment in the initiative to $400,000.
The program is intended to address the limited athletic opportunities for students with disabilities. More than 7 million students in U.S. public schools receive special-education services for disabilities, but participation in sports remains disproportionately low because of resource limitations, according to Bridgestone.
District 13 serves 388 students with disabilities, representing 20 percent of its K-6 enrollment, according to Gary Gentles, assistant superintendent for business and operations.
“Bridgestone was looking for districts ready to close a real gap, and we had one: No dedicated adaptive-athletics programming despite one in five of our students being a student with a disability,” Gentles said. “Being one of only eight recipients nationwide, and the only one in New York state, tells me our application made that case clearly. For the district, this recognition means we can keep closing equity gaps for our students rather than just naming them in a planning document.”
The program will operate primarily during physical education classes, but there may be after-school programming as well. It will be available to students with disabilities across the district’s four elementary schools: Willow Road, Wheeler Avenue, James A. Dever and Howell Road.
The district demonstrated a communitywide need for adaptive sports, and presented a plan to use the funding to expand access for hundreds of young athletes. Wade Munday, Bridgestone’s director of philanthropy and social impact and a leader of the Adaptive Sports in Schools initiative, said the district’s approach aligned with the program’s goal of helping communities determine which adaptive sports best meet their students’ needs.
Valley Stream plans to build its program around adaptive soccer, adaptive baseball and T-ball, along with skills and mobility activities related to boccia, a Paralympic sport similar to bocce. The district selected sports that can be played in a gym or on a field, and fit its elementary phys. ed. setting.
“We believe this program will benefit all students by strengthening their connections with peers from diverse backgrounds and abilities throughout the district,” Munday said. “Participating in sports allows students to learn more about others and themselves, which we think will encourage a healthy and vibrant school environment.”
The $25,000 award will cover adaptive sports equipment, skills development, staff and paraprofessional training, equipment storage, consumables or supplies that are subject to quick wear and tear and a sustainability reserve. The district said that every dollar would be used to cover program costs, with no administrative or overhead charges.
Planned equipment includes audible and bell soccer balls, adjustable pop-up goals, beep baseballs and sound-buzzer bases, height-adjustable batting tees, boccia competition sets and assistive ramps. The district also plans to purchase adaptive grip aids; universal cuffs which enables athletes to grip sports equipment securely; sensory, augmentative and alternative communication kits; wheelchair sport positioning supports and lockable storage carts for each school.
Phys. ed. teachers and paraprofessionals at all four schools will receive adaptive phys. ed. and unified sports training, while select staff members will pursue Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools coach certification.
Training is essential, Munday said, to building a sustainable adaptive sports program, and the district will determine its curriculum and training based on the sports and equipment it adds. Bridgestone will also make curriculum, resources and training from previous grant recipients available to Valley Stream.
The district expects all of its students with disabilities to have access to the program in its first year.
“This is entirely new,” Gentles said. “We currently have no dedicated adaptive-sports programming, so families are getting a program built from scratch rather than an expansion. What won’t change is our commitment to meeting our students’ sensory and foundational needs. The equipment and P.E. initiatives are new; the underlying commitment isn’t.”
Bridgestone will evaluate the program based on implementation of the new sports and staff training, as well as the number of student-athletes who take part. The company said it is open to continued funding for successful programs as participation grows.
Valley Stream also plans to hold an Adaptive Sports Family Play Day as part of the grant program, giving families an opportunity to learn about and participate in the new initiative.
“We are proud to support young athletes on their journey,” Munday said. “Competing in and enjoying any sport shows what’s achievable, and helps forge bonds with a community that can bring you happiness and joy. We want every student-athlete to know they have a place on the court, field or wherever they play.”
