| BAWSI Rollers is an 8-week after school sports program for third through eighth graders with physical disabilities. Similar in format to the BAWSI Girls Teams, it includes various games and sports that are specifically designed for kids in wheelchairs. Participants have an opportunity to try wheelchair basketball, rugby, soccer, football, volleyball, hockey, softball, bowling, and various other games. They have fun while also developing hand-eye coordination, greater physical strength and fitness, and more confidence in their abilities. World-class Paralympic athletes serve as coaches and share their stories to inspire and motivate the participants of this unique program.
BAWSI Rollers includes four stations with different themes: life lessons, goal setting, teamwork and healthy competition. At the life lessons station, coaches and participants discuss a different word every week, such as respect, responsibility, leadership, and teamwork. The coaches have an opportunity to share valuable lessons they have learned through playing sports and other life experiences. The participants also practice goal setting, teamwork and healthy competition each week. Thus, the participants gain both physical and mental skills during this program, which runs each spring and fall for eight weeks.
Volunteer coach Gloria Nieto describes BAWSI Rollers as "a dose of joy and reality all in one hour and a half slot. To see these kids interact with each other is to see our humanity. They help each other with their tasks: filling their water bottles, setting the brakes on their wheel chairs, passing the ball to one another. The pure delight on their faces when they accomplish something new is enough to make me cry and remind me again of the joy of life. If you think you don't have much, give it away to a child. You'll get it back times a million."
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