12/30/2025
2025 Wrap-Up: A Note From Our President, Joslynn Bigelow ❤️💙
“As we close out this year, I find myself reflecting not just on what we accomplished - but on how we chose to do the work.
"Adaptive soccer is often misunderstood as a collection of moments. In reality, it is a system, a pathway, and a lifespan. It exists across age, gender, disability, and roles, and it thrives when we are willing to do the slower, more complex work of getting it right.
"When a player beginning their journey shares space with seasoned national team athletes, it reinforces what sport should offer: aspiration without pressure, excellence without exclusion, and belonging without conditions. Pathways only work when people can see themselves in the future they are being asked to work toward.
"Our largest event to date did not happen by accident. It required infrastructure, coordination, and an entire ecosystem of people - volunteers, staff, host teams, partners, officials, families, and fans - working together behind the scenes. Impact at this level is never the result of one organization alone.
"Deeply committed to pan-disability inclusion, we recognize that quality matters. Our role is to collaborate responsibly, ensuring excellence in delivery while supporting disability-specific pathways that are volunteer-led and under-resourced.
"Trust is built when communities see themselves not as beneficiaries, but as partners and leaders. Adaptive soccer thrives when we invest in relationships, honor lived experience, and refuse to lower standards.
"This year reinforced a truth we cannot ignore: learning together across roles and disability categories isn’t a bonus - it is essential. When people with disabilities are empowered as coaches, referees, and decision-makers, the entire system becomes stronger.
"This work is layered, intentional, and ongoing. Thank you to every athlete, family, volunteer, partner, and leader who continues to believe that adaptive sport can be done with both heart and rigor. We move forward with clarity, humility, and resolve - committed to building pathways that last.”
