Emotional Road Trip Years in the Making

College Road Trip!
This past weekend Ashley hit the highway to fulfill one of her bucket list items:
Watch former BIIS youth athlete Miles play in a collegiate wheelchair basketball game!

For those of you who don’t know Miles, he grew up in the BIIS youth wheelchair basketball program and is now a senior playing ball at the University of Illinois. The Illini were at the University of Alabama for a tournament (the closest collegiate wheelchair basketball program to NC— but THAT’S a story for another day) so Ashley decided to go and bring along a surprise – Miles’ twin brother Martin who had never seen his brother play either!

It was worth the 20 hour round-trip drive to see Miles’ face when he spotted Ashley and his brother there to cheer him on – an emotional moment to have ‘family’ come all that way.

Ashley and Martin took full advantage of the experience making signs, getting ‘enthusiastic’ in the stands, and having dinner out with the men’s team and head coach Matt Buchi (who will be coming down to run our youth b-ball camp in July).

But the surprises weren’t just reserved for Miles. Unbeknownst to Ashley, former BIIS athlete Lizzie was also there! She plays for the University of Texas Arlington. Ashley had the chance to see her in action and then catch up and reminisce.

A very special weekend for all. It was a good reminder of what Bridge II Sports is all about – investing in the ‘long game’ of our athletes, supporting them through their journeys with disability, and helping them reach their potential both on AND off the court.