Kristen Perkins will never forget the overwhelming day she took her young son to a local youth soccer program for the first time. At only about three years old and surrounded by strangers, he quickly became overwhelmed. “He really had a lot of challenging behaviors in that first class,” Perkins remembers. “I could feel the eyes of all the parents and grandparents on the sidelines judging us, and all the kids didn’t really know what to do with it.”
They ended up leaving early, and Perkins called her husband from the parking lot. They wanted their son to play and love sports just as much as they did, but this program clearly wasn’t the right fit for him. That experience was the catalyst for creating InclYOUsion Sports, which offers inclusive, noncompetitive sports programs for all kids ages 2–10. Rather than traditional league-based sports programs or ones specially tailored to kids with disabilities, InclYOUsion Sports occupies what Perkins calls a “really interesting space in the middle.” “It’s a really beautiful combination of children of all abilities, with and without disabilities, coming together to learn sports for the first time,” she says.
With small classes, well-trained coaches, and an emphasis on fun, team – work, and communication, InclYOUsion Sports is a great fit for kids who want to make friends and learn a new sport for the first time. It’s also a multi-sport program that provides all necessary equipment for playing. Kids only need to wear comfortable clothing and bring some water. “They’re learning multiple sports or multiple skills, which is really attractive for parents who don’t know what their kids like yet,” Perkins says. “It’s nice that they get to try new things, and we also provide all the equipment.”
FILLING A NEED
Perkins founded InclYOUsion Sports with her husband, Greg, a board-certified behavior analyst who has spent his career working with children of diverse abilities, primarily autism. “In parallel to us having our own personal experience in sports, he was a clinical director for a local center for kids with autism,” she says. He also frequently fielded questions from parents about local programs for their kids to play, make friends, and apply the skills they learned at the center.
“He never had a recommendation. There just wasn’t something that existed that brought all kids together,” she says. Perkins saw the need herself during her work as a member of the Danvers Human Rights and Inclusion Committee. “I was seeing firsthand the gap in programming for kids,” she says. “It didn’t exist in this community yet, but I knew it was possible from the work that I was doing. So really, our professional and personal interests combined to make that happen.”
NO SIDELINES
InclYOUsion Sports has 12 sports in its curriculum, with a focus on ones that have been most popular with participants, Perkins says. That includes soccer, baseball, basketball, floor hockey, track and field, and flag football, as well as seasonal lacrosse. Rather than operating out of its own fixed location, InclYOUsion Sports partners with municipal recreation departments, schools, daycare and therapy centers, and other organizations serving kids aged 2–10 and brings the program to them. This summer, for instance, InclYOUsion Sports ran recreation department programs in cities and towns across the North Shore and beyond, including Danvers, Haverhill, Newburyport, North Reading, Swampscott, and others.
“We bring our coaches, our curriculum, our equipment, and bring every – thing in. We deliver the programming and partnership with whoever we’re working with,” Perkins says. In addition, InclYOUsion Sports isn’t a nonprofit organization, which Perkins says is an important distinction. Rather than relying on volunteer coaches, InclYOUsion’s coaches are paid well and receive “really robust” training, including teaching coaches how to individually modify sports for kids with disabilities. “We use things like visual schedules, positive reinforcements, and very intentional ways of working with all kids so that no matter what their ability level is, their prior experience, or develop – mental stage, they can find success in our program,” Perkins says.
She ultimately hopes that InclYOUsion Sports will continue to grow and become a resource for families. The company recently became a franchise business, and Perkins and her husband even authored a children’s book titled, My First Soccer Practice that will be published in October. “We envisioned a national brand that really supports families to try sports for the first time, find what they love, and build confidence,” Perkins says.