Physically Challenged Sports & Recreation Programs

Colbie Bratlie wants to be a world champion. And the odds are good that she will be because she competes in wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, track, field, archery, table tennis, and swimming. The athletic 14- year-old already seems Herculean for her stamina and determination, but when you add in that she has cerebral palsy, it truly does make her accomplishments seem superhuman.

In 1989, when Gerry and Gwena Herman got the call to move from Boston to Baltimore to start a physically challenged sports program, there was no question that they would do it. Gerry, who had self-styled his college major to do sports and physical education with special populations, found in the offer a chance to pursue his dream. And the Hermans have never looked back.

Gerry and Gwena Herman started the physically challenged sports program at Kennedy Krieger in 1989. The Hermans started with a wheelchair basketball program, but expanded the program so that kids with a wider range of disabilities would be able to compete. Today, kids have the opportunity to take part in sports, such as wheelchair basketball and football, swimming, track, archery, baseball, cycling, sitting volleyball, tennis, and sled hockey.

The lobby of the ice rink hums with excitement as children laugh and talk while their parents bundle them up and help them get their skates on. In one corner, a little boy grins from ear to ear as his dad helps him to his feet and his mom snaps photo after photo. Across the room, another mom keeps a careful eye on her son as he practices walking in his skates, one hand on the wall for stability.