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Rate ePoster

Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine

Comparison of Collegiate Adaptive Sport Offerings to NCAA and Paralympic Sports

Thursday, October 23, 2025
3:45 PM - 5:00 PM MT
Location: Session Room - 250 DEF
Has Audio

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Daniel Shinchuk, Other

    Research Person of Interest
    Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
    Newton Center, Massachusetts

    • Co-Author(s)

  • JS

    Jason Schon, MD

    Sports Medicine Fellow
    Harvard Medical School / Boston Children's Hospital
    Charlestown, Massachusetts

  • David Crandell, MD

    Assistant Professor
    Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
    Charlestown, Massachusetts

Disclosure(s):
Daniel Shinchuk, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
David Crandell, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: Sports participation enhances physical health and quality of life for individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the availability and scope of adaptive sports programs at U.S. colleges using the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee's (USOPC) Para-College Inclusion Project database and compare these programs to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sponsored sports and the sports included in the upcoming 2026 and 2028 Paralympic Games.

Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study

Setting : U.S. colleges and universities

Participants : n/a

Interventions: n/a

Main Outcome Measures: Availability of collegiate adaptive sports, with comparison to NCAA and Paralympic offerings

Results: 22 colleges and universities offer competitive adaptive sports programs in eight sports (one winter and seven summer sports). Among these, there are 5 team sports (7-a-side soccer, power soccer, sled hockey, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair rugby), 1 individual competitive sport (wheelchair tennis), and 2 individual performance-based sports (para swimming and para track & field). Seven of these sports are co-ed and only wheelchair basketball is offered in men's, women's, and co-ed divisions. The NCAA, comprised of 1097 schools, sponsors 29 sports: 15 team sports, 8 individual competitive sports, and 6 individual performance-based sports. NCAA sports are divided into 27 women’s and 19 men’s sports, with no sports offered as co-ed. Compared to the Paralympics, 5 of 22 summer and 1 of 6 winter Paralympic sports are found at the collegiate level.

Conclusions: Adaptive sports programs are underrepresented in U.S. collegiate athletics, with limited opportunities for student-athletes with disabilities. Compared to the Paralympics, collegiate adaptive sports programs offer fewer opportunities for winter and summer sports, and many programs are co-ed, in contrast to NCAA and Paralympic sports. These findings emphasize the need to expand adaptive sports at the collegiate level, bridging the gap between intercollegiate, NCAA, and Paralympic competition to enhance accessibility and inclusion for student-athletes with disabilities.