Middle Tennessee resident Amy Saffell has served as the executive director of ABLE Youth for the last seven years. Growing up in Atlanta, Saffell, who has spina bifida, was always very involved in adaptive sports programs. “I saw the benefits that it had with me and so I wanted to get involved in an organization that was involved in adaptive sports,” she explains. When she moved to Nashville in 2004, she started volunteering with ABLE Youth while working in the music industry at a record label. Eventually, when the organization’s founder was ready to retire, Saffell stepped in as the executive director of the organization.
“ABLE Youth helps kids with physical disabilities learn how to be independent using adaptive sports,” she explains. The Franklin-based nonprofit organization creates opportunities for youth ages 2-22 who utilize wheelchairs to participate in activities including travel wheelchair basketball teams, local road races, tennis, adaptive rock climbing, track and field meets, monthly Super Sports Saturdays, and its annual Independence Camp.
Super Sports Saturdays include a variety of sports including wheelchair basketball and tennis, as well as other fun games. ABLE Youth has two teams that compete as part of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and play against teams from other states including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and the Carolinas.
These activities are not only fun for the participants, but they help teach them adaptive ways toward gaining independence and building confidence. “We have all kinds of programs that help our kids to, first of all, learn about what they can do and their capabilities in life,” says Saffell. “I think a lot of times having a disability you might be flat out told by doctors or just by other people what you can't do. So we help introduce kids to what they can do and I think they learn that they can do a whole lot.”
Additionally, this involvement fosters community and connection between kids who utilize wheelchairs, so that they can have shared experiences with others their age who have similar lifestyles. “We also have a lot of kids who don't see anybody else with a physical disability in their everyday life and may not have ever met anybody their own age with a physical disability,” explains Saffell. “And so, you may be out there thinking, ‘I'm the only one that has a disability and that lives life like this,’ and they come to find that they are definitely not, and they meet other kids who are just like them. So the social piece and the friendship piece is really important for them to be able to make other friends with kids just like them.”
ABLE Youth is passionate about providing an outlet for kids to be able to participate and compete in sports because there aren’t many opportunities in middle Tennessee for youth who utilize wheelchairs. Aside from traveling out of state for certain competitions, all activities for ABLE Youth are hosted in either Williamson or Davidson counties, but kids come from counties across the state to participate. “For the most part, we're a one-of-a-kind organization in our area,” shares Saffell. “If they're not participating with us in sports, they're not participating at all in sports.”
The typical age range of participants is two through high school, but some kids who’ve been in the program since they were young will stay a few years beyond high school as they transition into college or the workforce. Many kids who have grown up in the program will even come back to volunteer.
“It’s so fun to see them come back to volunteer because one of the biggest things that our families talk about is what they learn from kids that are older than them,” explains Saffell. “That could be kids also in our program or that could be alumni. The kids can see, ‘OK, when I'm an adult I can do this because there’s somebody here that I’m seeing in front of me that is successful, is living independently, has a job and is going to college.’ So that's a really important part that they see those older kids and see kids move through our program that are successful.”
In addition to having former ABLE Youth participants return as volunteers, Saffell says she often has physical therapy and occupational therapy students come volunteer with the organization.
When it comes to befitting through involvement in ABLE Youth, there are a plethora of ways youth experience development through the program including in the areas of physical fitness, social skills, confidence, and independence. Saffell says that she sees kids in the program build their self-esteem and “awareness of what they can do and what their future can hold.”
The organization is completely funded through donations, grants, and fundraising events, including its golf tournament in late September. Donations to help further the mission of ABLE Youth and provide opportunities for kids can be made at ABLEyouth.org.