Adaptive Sports
Meet Erica: Women’s Sled Hockey Pioneer & Gold Medalist
This year, 38 active-duty service members and veterans participated in our two military sport camps, with all costs — flights, lodging, meals, transportation, instruction and program fees — completely covered. In addition, 62 kids participated in our spring-break and summer sports camps held in partnership with the Chicago Park District. Thanks to your support, we also introduced 708 patients to a variety of adaptive sports at our offsite locations across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Through these sports experience days, participants were able to use adaptive sports equipment — enjoying and benefiting from the opportunities that sports provide.
509 participants 12 sports
You never know what can happen when you give kids the opportunity to play adaptive sports. You could be supporting a future gold medalist.
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab continues to offer Chicago’s most comprehensive adaptive sports program, with year-round competitive and recreational sports opportunities for youth and adults living with a physical impairment. In FY25, our adaptive sports program served 509 adult participants across 12 sports programs and four sports clinics. Of those athletes, 96 participated in team sports, including sled hockey, as well as wheelchair basketball, rugby and softball.
Years ago, Erica was one of those kids.
She was born with sacral agenesis — a congenital disorder in which the lower spine and parts of the legs do not fully develop. But, her condition never kept her from being active. She began playing sled hockey when she was 9 years old. In high school, Erica discovered the Tengelsen Family Foundation Sports for Kids program at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. She found a community of peers and took part in unforgettable adventures — canoeing down the Colorado River, scuba diving and river rafting. “These programs change lives,” she said. “Shirley Ryan AbilityLab gave me opportunities that would have been financially impossible otherwise — training, competing, Through the program, she learned about Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s adult sled hockey team and began attending practices weekly, even before she was old enough to join. At 18, she made the team — becoming its only female player and eventually its captain. traveling and making lifelong friends along the way. I’m so grateful for these experiences.”
Despite her talent, Erica was denied a spot on the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2007 as it only accepted male players. She channeled her heartbreak into founding the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team and began advocating for equity in the sport. At the same time, she earned her degree in recreational therapy and began working as a special education aide in a high school. In August 2025, after nearly two decades of hard work, Erica achieved one of her dreams: winning gold at the first-ever World Para Ice Hockey Women’s Championship. She credits Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s adaptive sports programs for making it possible.
16 Quality-of-life Programs
Quality-of-life Programs 17
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