How accessible are sports that no one knows of? 
The equipment is here. The programs are running. Now students need to know they belong in them

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UTM has wheelchair basketball and badminton, sitting volleyball, adaptive swimming, a dedicated adaptive fitness hour, and even a low-sensory gym hour where the lights are dimmed and the music is turned down.

If you are a UTM student and this is the first time you are hearing about any of these, that is not a surprise and might be part of the problem.

Over the past few years, UTM’s Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre (RAWC) has made a genuine effort to make recreation more accessible. According to its Inclusive Recreation program, the RAWC introduced “a slate of new [inclusive] programming” in fall 2024. Today, that includes accessible drop-in sports like wheelchair basketball and  badminton, an adaptive fitness swim, and an adaptive drop-in hour in the Strength & Conditioning Centre.

The physical space has been considered too. The RAWC lists automatic doors, accessible washrooms, a pool lift, an elevator, recumbent bikes, upper-body ergometers, and resistance equipment that can be adapted for different accessibility considerations among its facilities. Its pool and change rooms are also designed to be accessible.

So this is not a story about UTM doing nothing. That would be disingenuous. It is about what happens after a university does something.

Because a program can exist, obtain the equipment, have a dedicated staff team, and possess a perfectly functional webpage somewhere on the UTM website, without the students who need it most knowing it’s there. That distinction has already appeared at UTM.

When The Medium reported on wheelchair basketball in 2025, fourth-year student and wheelchair user Samm Mohibuddin said he was interested in participating but didn’t know the drop-in program existed. He suggested that lower participation by wheelchair users could partly be explained by accessible sports not being widely promoted, alongside the relatively small number of wheelchair users on campus.

The university has continued expanding its inclusive recreation programming. This semester, its Learn to Play program has dedicated wheelchair basketball sessions on October 14, as well as sitting volleyball sessions on October 7 and October 21. The program is designed for students with little or no previous experience, which makes the barrier for entry considerably lower than showing up to a competitive team and hoping for the best. UTM also appears to be investing in outreach. A recent job description for its Inclusive Recreation Lead specifically included identifying barriers to participation, gathering student feedback and promoting inclusive recreation through social media, newsletters, posters and the university website.

Photo provided by Samm Mohibuddin

Earlier this year, UTM Moves hosted “New Year, New Moves,” a free event centred specifically around adaptive recreation. Students could try wheelchair basketball, bocce, fitness circuits and other activities, and Canadian Paralympian Jamoi Anderson spoke about adaptive sport and inclusion. That event produced one of the more interesting suggestions for where UTM could go next.

In talks with The Medium, Anderson said wheelchair basketball could be every bit as competitive as conventional basketball. When asked what universities could do to push accessible sport forward, he suggested creating intramural leagues involving adaptive equipment.

And the opportunities for accessible team sports are glaringly different. 

UTM’s fall 2026 intramural offerings include basketball, cricket, dodgeball, ultimate, soccer, volleyball, spikeball, badminton, table tennis, tennis and flag football. Students can form teams, follow standings, play scheduled games, and compete in playoffs.

But, all of which are inaccessible to wheelchair users and students with accessibility needs. Wheelchair basketball, for instance, is only available through accessible drop-ins and two Learn to Play dates this semester. Both variations matter but they are not given the same attention.

For Samm Mohibuddin, the frustrating part is that UTM has already shown that accessible sports can work. He remembers last year’s wheelchair basketball sessions as “a pretty good start.” People came. They stayed. Some of his friends returned every week and played for hours, not because they felt obligated to support an accessibility initiative, but because they genuinely enjoyed the sport.

That is what makes the visibility problem feel like such a missed opportunity. “This year I haven’t seen as much marketing for it,” Mohibuddin said. For a first-year student arriving at UTM, that could mean never discovering these programs at all. And when something is already working, sometimes accessibility does not require reinventing it. It requires making sure people can find it. As Mohibuddin put it, “It’s just getting the word out that these types of sports actually exist.” UTM has made a good start. Now the challenge is making sure that start does not quietly disappear.

There is a difference between being allowed to try a sport and having a sporting community built around it. A recurring league creates teams, competition, routine, and, importantly, visibility. Accessible sports shouldn’t have to survive by being noticed. Perhaps this is where our definition of accessibility needs to widen a little. We tend to think about accessibility physically. Is there a ramp? Is there an elevator? Can someone enter the building, use the equipment, or get into the pool?

Those questions are essential. But there is also informational and social access. Do students know an opportunity exists? Do they see people like themselves represented in campus recreation? Does the program feel like a regular part of university life, or something separate that you need to deliberately search for?

UTM says its inclusive sports welcome all members of the communities: those who the program is designed around and allies. That means wheelchair basketball can also give students without accessibility needs the chance to join in with their friends.

That point feels almost embarrassingly necessary to make. Adaptive sport does not always need to become a lesson, an inspirational story, or a university diversity campaign. Students with disabilities do not need to become symbols of perseverance every time they enter a gym. Sometimes basketball just gets to be basketball, regardless of whether there is another word in front of it.

UTM deserves credit for building the foundation. There is accessible equipment. There are adapted facilities. There are dedicated programs, staff positions, and outreach efforts; all of the important elements that did not exist a few years ago exist now. There are also signs that the university is listening and expanding what it offers. But, is that enough? 

Promote wheelchair basketball alongside other basketball activities. Talk about sitting volleyball. Give these programs the same visual presence students are accustomed to seeing from campus athletics. Keep asking participants what would actually make them return. 

Offering accessible sport is an important first step. But perhaps, a more accurate measure of accessibility is not whether a program exists somewhere on a university website, it is whether the student who would have loved it ever finds out.

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