Move United

Athletes with disabilities join Move United's network of 249 member organizations to access adaptive sports -- from sit-skiing to wheelchair football -- because mainstream leagues never built programs that included them.

ENABLE Model location

• Navigator-side Compensations → Switch to an Alternative

What it is

Move United is a nonprofit headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, celebrating 70 years of adaptive sports programming across the United States. Through a network of 249+ member organizations in 45 states, Move United connects people with disabilities to 70+ adaptive sports, serving over 131,000 people annually and more than 21,500 warfighters and family members.¹

The organization operates at multiple scales. At the grassroots level, member organizations provide local access to adaptive sports including sit-skiing, archery, wheelchair basketball, para swimming, sled hockey, adaptive cycling, and wheelchair football. At the competitive level, Move United runs 38 sanctioned competitions in 25 states, hosts The Hartford Nationals and The Hartford Ski Spectacular, and operates the USA Wheelchair Football League and the Move United Adaptive Shooting League. At the elite level, Move United functions as a pipeline to the Paralympics: over 83% of Team USA athletes competing in the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games have a connection to Move United, and 89% of Team USA athletes at the 2022 Winter Games did as well.^{1 2}

The Warfighters program serves veterans and service members with disabilities through adaptive sports programming, equipment access, and an Ambassador program that pairs veteran athletes with newly injured warfighters. Move United also provides member organization grants, youth grants, insurance, sport protection policies, and an Education Hub with an Inclusive Playbook -- infrastructure that keeps adaptive programming running at the local level.¹

Move United is a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) affiliate organization, a Forbes Accessibility 100 honoree (2025), and holds accreditation from Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau, and Candid (Platinum Seal).^{1 3}

The organization was formed in 2020 through the merger of Disabled Sports USA (founded in 1956 as the National Wheelchair Athletic Association) and Adaptive Sports USA (founded in 1967 as the National Amputee Skiers Association), consolidating decades of adaptive sports infrastructure under a single banner.^{1 4}

Why it matters

Mainstream sports leagues -- from youth recreational programs to high school athletics -- are built for non-disabled bodies. Fields, equipment, coaching certifications, insurance policies, and league rules all assume participants who can run, stand, grip, and see without adaptation. When a disabled child wants to play, there is rarely a program that includes them. The navigator-side burden is total: the family must find an alternative or the child simply doesn't play.

Move United supports the switch-to-alternative compensation that athletes undertake when mainstream leagues never performed the builder-side design and requirement-setting work necessary to include them. Swimmer Austin Olive captures this gap precisely: "I was too disabled to play with the 'normal' kids. My Cerebral Palsy does affect me but the Challenger baseball team in my city was for those with cognitive disabilities -- so I was not disabled enough. Now at Move United I AM enough just being ME."¹

The organization itself, however, does critical builder-side work for the adaptive sports ecosystem: setting requirement standards through sanctioned competitions, providing insurance infrastructure, training coaches, distributing grants, and building the pipeline from first-time participant to Paralympian. Move United compensates for a world that won't include disabled athletes -- while simultaneously building the infrastructure that makes inclusion possible.

Real-world examples

In the news

Forbes Recognizes Move United On New 'Accessibility 100' List (September 2025)
-- Move United

• Forbes included Move United on its inaugural Accessibility 100 list, recognizing the organization's 70-year track record of creating adaptive sports infrastructure across the United States -- a role necessitated by the absence of disability inclusion in mainstream athletic programming.

In the news

Over 83% of Team USA Athletes to Compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games Have a Connection to Move United (March 2026)
-- Move United

• The statistic reveals the depth of Move United's function as the de facto alternative to mainstream athletics for disabled Americans: nearly the entire Winter Paralympic team came up through its network. When conventional sports systems design nothing for disabled athletes, Move United becomes the only pathway from first try to world stage.

• Jessica Heims, a three-time Paralympian in discus, discovered adaptive sports through the Endeavor Games at age 10. "That was the first time being with other people with my disability and it was so interesting to me. We all were dealing with the same thing." When she tried to compete at the collegiate level, universities gave her lukewarm receptions until the University of Northern Iowa said: "We've never done this before, but we are willing to learn if you are willing to teach us."¹
• Archer Keira Cromwell started sports on her physical therapist's recommendation. "When the door to sports opened, I went full force into trying everything I could -- kayaking, water skiing, rock climbing, golfing, tennis, you name it."¹
• Lt. Commander (Ret.) John Pucillo, a Navy EOD specialist who lost his left leg above the knee to an IED in Baghdad in 2006, became a Move United Warfighter Ambassador and USA Wheelchair Football League official after rehabilitation. He calls sport "a way to continue to overcome your disability and ensure that you maintain a positive attitude."¹
• Move United surpassed 5,000 individual members in October 2025, up from a primarily organization-based model -- a sign that adaptive athletes are directly seeking its programs rather than being referred.⁵

What care sounds like (builder-side interventions)

Care at requirement-setting and design involves building adaptive sports into mainstream athletic infrastructure:

• "Our youth sports league requires at least one adaptive program per season -- it's in the charter."
• "We budget for adaptive equipment the same way we budget for uniforms -- it's a standard line item."
• "Our coaching certification includes a module on adapting drills for athletes with physical and cognitive disabilities."
• "We designed the facility with adaptive athletes in mind from the start -- wide lanes, transfer platforms, adjustable equipment."

What neglect sounds like (builder-side interventions)

Neglect involves assuming that sports programming for non-disabled bodies is sufficient:

• "We don't have any athletes with disabilities, so we don't need adaptive programming."
• "The insurance won't cover adapted equipment -- that's a liability issue."
• "We'd love to include everyone, but we don't have the budget for specialized gear."
• "There's a special program across town for kids like that."
• "Our coaches aren't trained for that -- it's not fair to put that on them."

What compensation sounds like (navigator-side compensations)

Compensation describes the labor disabled athletes and their families carry when mainstream sports exclude them:

• "We drive 90 minutes each way for her to play wheelchair basketball because nothing exists in our county."
• "I had to give up team sports entirely until I found Move United -- no league near me had adaptive programs."
• "My parents made adaptive sports our family vacation because that was the only way I could compete."
• "I was too disabled for the regular league and not disabled enough for the Challenger league -- I didn't fit anywhere until Move United."
• "I fundraise for my own racing wheelchair because the grant only covers part of it and insurance won't touch sports equipment."

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All observations occur within the context of adaptive sports programming and Paralympic development across the United States, centered on Move United's network of 249 member organizations in 45 states.

Footnotes

1. https://moveunitedsport.org/ "Move United — Home" ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. https://moveunitedsport.org/2026-paralympic-connections/ "Over 83% of Team USA Athletes to Compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games Have a Connection to Move United" ↩

3. https://moveunitedsport.org/forbes-accessibility-100-list/ "Forbes Recognizes Move United On New 'Accessibility 100' List" ↩

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Move_United "Move United — Wikipedia" ↩

5. https://moveunitedsport.org/5000-members/ "Move United Surpasses 5,000 Members in Two Years" ↩