Reflections on UASA National Soccer Camp 2026
This past weekend, more than 70 athletes with a wide range of abilities and disabilities came together for competitive training, recreational clinics, and meaningful connection through soccer. When we include players, coaches, referees, staff, and support people, more than 120 individuals traveled from 21 states to participate in five distinct adaptive soccer pathways: Amputee, Blind, Dwarf, Intellectual Disability, and Power Soccer.
Our players ranged from 8 to 49 years old. Nearly 45% were under age 18, and approximately 35% identified as female. Those numbers matter because they demonstrate the breadth of the community we are trying to serve - not one disability, one age group, one level of competition, or one version of the game.
This past weekend, more than 70 athletes with a wide range of abilities and disabilities came together for competitive training, recreational clinics, and meaningful connection through soccer. When we include players, coaches, referees, staff, and support people, more than 120 individuals traveled from 21 states to participate in five distinct adaptive soccer pathways: Amputee, Blind, Dwarf, Intellectual Disability, and Power Soccer.
Our players ranged from 8 to 49 years old. Nearly 45% were under age 18, and approximately 35% identified as female. Those numbers matter because they demonstrate the breadth of the community we are trying to serve - not one disability, one age group, one level of competition, or one version of the game.
The early feedback is equally important. Every respondent so far has said that being around adaptive soccer pathways other than their own added “a lot” of value to their experience. A majority reported that they now understand the different ways people with disabilities can participate in soccer “much more” than they did before camp. Feedback also indicates that, for many participants, attending likely would not have been possible if they had been responsible for the full cost themselves.
That validates something UASA has believed strongly from the beginning: cost should not determine who gets access to meaningful soccer opportunities. Our national camp is designed to cover the overwhelming majority of the experience (programming, coaching, education, lodging, meals, local transportation, equipment, and other event costs) so that participants are primarily responsible for simply getting there.
The data speaks for itself. But from the bottom of my heart, I also want to thank every person who trusts UASA enough to give us a chance.
People travel across the country, send their children to us, allow us to support complex accessibility needs, volunteer their time, step into unfamiliar adaptive pathways, and trust us to create something worthwhile. We do not take that lightly.
UASA exists to serve the broader disability soccer community by bringing people together to play, learn, and build relationships in a setting that intentionally crosses traditional pathway boundaries. Our goal is not to pull people away from their home programs or governing bodies. It is the opposite. We want athletes, coaches, referees, and families to return home with stronger skills, broader perspectives, new relationships, and a greater understanding of what is possible across adaptive soccer.
We also believe education has to be real and accessible. By providing coach and referee development at no cost, we can create stronger leaders while giving participants meaningful, resume-level evidence of what they are capable of doing. That investment extends well beyond one weekend.
Our organization was founded to play, share, and educate - to share information, increase awareness, and celebrate the incredible people and organizations already doing this work throughout the adaptive soccer ecosystem.
That is what this camp represents, and that is what we will continue pushing for.
- J
Joslynn Bigelow
President - United Adaptive Soccer Association