Everybody Plays NC
Check out this video filmed and edited by Jordan High School’s Innovation Lab highlighting Everybody Plays NC at their school!
Everybody Plays NC
The Everybody Plays NC (EBPNC) program is an inclusive adaptive sports experience integrated into the North Carolina school systems. Led by Bridge2Sports, EBPNC embeds wheelchair basketball directly into high school physical education classes for one full week, giving students hands-on skill-building, team strategy, and tournament play, not just a single afternoon of exposure.
Over four class periods, students build chair skills, ball skills, and team strategy, then close the week with a school-wide assembly and championship, alongside an open-gym rotation introducing other adaptive sports (wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball, and boccia). Along the way, students are introduced to the history of adaptive sports and to disability etiquette, building understanding that carries into their daily interactions long after the week ends.
The core message: the wheelchair is not the limitation, it's the tool. Because wheelchair basketball is new to nearly all students, everyone starts from the same place, and that shared starting point is where mindsets begin to shift, from "there are just some things you can't do" to "there's got to be a way to make this happen." That's how adaptive sports are born, and how inclusion happens.
Our goal is that every school in North Carolina would include adaptive sports in their regular PE programming. Starting with high schools in the Triangle, Bridge2Sports plans to expand this program across the state, challenging the perception of disability one week at a time.
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Bridge2Sports provides the equipment, coaching, and a full teacher guide, including sport wheelchairs, basketballs, and everything else needed for the week. Because this is a week-long unit built into your PE curriculum, we ask that your PE staff attend a short training session before the week begins and help us coordinate scheduling across periods.
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In your own gym!
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During your normal PE periods, over the course of one week (four in-class days, plus a Friday school-wide assembly and open-gym rotation). Reach out to our team to pick a week that works for your school!
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Everyone! We believe every student deserves the opportunity to play together, regardless of physical disability. We bring chairs for all, and everyone plays together while learning about disability along the way.
What Students Told Us
In our Spring 2026 pilot semester (four schools, 156 students), before we expanded to this full-week model, students reported:
93% had never tried adaptive sports before
8.2 / 10 average enjoyment rating
73% rated their experience an 8 or higher
86% said they learned something valuable about disability
72% felt more confident interacting with people with disabilities, after a single session
We're expanding to a full week this semester in part because of what these students told us: the single biggest piece of feedback was that they wanted more time!
Let’s Work Together
We're inviting schools across the Triangle to bring Everybody Plays NC into their PE curriculum this semester. If you're interested in hosting the program at your school, reach out to Mac Renslow at macr@bridge2sports.org and we'll walk you through what the week looks like and get you on the schedule.
