FGCU graduate student helping athletes with disabilities find their place in sports

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — After a car crash left Kristen Carney wondering whether she would ever compete again, the lifelong athlete found a different way back into sports.

Now, the Florida Gulf Coast University graduate student trains in sitting volleyball with the USA national team development program, helps lead FGCU’s Adaptive Sports and Recreation Day and has been recognized by ESPN for her work expanding opportunities for athletes with disabilities.

Carney grew up playing tennis, volleyball and gymnastics and was also a member of the dance team. She later played club tennis at the University of South Carolina.

After graduating, Carney was struck by an SUV. During her recovery, she said returning to sports remained one of her biggest motivations.

Then she received another difficult diagnosis.

“I got diagnosed with a serious neurologic condition, and I found out I’m not going to get better,” Carney said. “And that was extremely devastating, because my motivating factor was to get back to my sports.”

Carney began researching ways she could compete again and discovered adaptive sports, including sitting volleyball and wheelchair tennis.

“The entire world of adaptive sports has really opened up to me,” Carney said.

Adaptive sports modify equipment, rules or the style of play to allow athletes with disabilities to participate and compete.

Carney eventually connected with a Fort Myers coach who helped create a space for her to play sitting volleyball. He installed a sitting volleyball net and even painted the appropriate court lines inside his gym.

“Through his actions, I really was like, ‘Wow, I have value as an athlete still,’” Carney said. “So, with Adaptive Sports Day, I really want to give that to other people.”

Carney is now studying for her master’s degree in occupational therapy at FGCU and serves as a student leader for the university’s Adaptive Sports and Recreation Day.

Part of that role includes connecting participants and their families with local disability organizations, sporting groups, nonprofits and mobility companies through the event’s resource expo.

Sky Santa Maria, a program support specialist with FGCU’s Golisano Intellectual & Developmental Disability Initiative, said Carney has pushed the organization to think more intentionally about inclusion and gaps in adaptive sports opportunities.

Santa Maria said Adaptive Sports Day gives participants an opportunity to compete while also giving people without disabilities a better understanding of adaptive athletics.

“You see somebody that’s in a wheelchair being at an advantage for once, and just seeing how confident they are in playing wheelchair basketball or wheelchair tennis,” Santa Maria said. “The other thing is just making them realize that they, too, can be an athlete.”

Carney’s work earned her recognition from ESPN this year as Florida’s regional recipient of the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award.

“I was so shocked whenever I got the email. I was super excited,” Carney said. “The award is in recognition of my work in the community and my leadership roles, specifically in the athletic community.”

Carney is also working with another student to organize recurring adaptive sports clinics for wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.

FGCU’s 2026 Adaptive Sports and Recreation Day is scheduled for Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is expected to include wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, pickleball, adaptive water skiing, kayaking and a community resource expo.

People of all abilities are welcome to participate.