The Heart of the Mission: Why We Built a Home for Chicago’s Adaptive Athletes

By Juan Ortiz | Host, Chicago Grit

The squeak of tires. The clash of metal. The perfect swish of a net.

If you walked into the Broadway Armory last month, you didn’t just see a basketball tournament. You saw a movement. You saw thirteen youth teams from across the Midwest battling for every inch of the court. You saw parents cheering, coaches strategizing, and kids finding a version of themselves they didn’t know existed.

This is the "Present" of Chicago Adaptive Sports (CAS). It is loud, it is competitive, and it is growing.

But to understand why this matters; to really see the "Heart of the Mission", you have to look beyond the scoreboard. You have to go back to a sock full of money, a hospital bed, and a refusal to accept the world as it was.

In Episode 2 of the Chicago Grit Podcast, we explore the Past, Present, and Future of this incredible community.

The Present: "Zero to 100"

Confidence isn’t given; it’s built. And for kids with physical disabilities, the world often builds barriers instead.

At the tournament, I spoke with Greg Schmidt, a parent who became a coach after seeing the transformation in his own daughter, Ioni. She was the only kid in her school with a disability, often navigating a world designed for someone else. But on the court?

"The first word that comes to mind with my daughter is confidence... Her confidence in these walls is zero to 100." — Greg Schmidt

That is the metric that matters. It’s what Jennifer Friedlander, another CAS parent, described to me as a "huge sum of pride." It’s the realization that you aren’t alone, and that your wheelchair isn’t a limitation - it’s sports equipment.

The Past: A Sock Full of Dreams

None of this happens by accident. The Chicago Skyhawks, the tournaments, the community; they exist because of the grit of our founders.

In this episode, I sat down with Ken Carwell, Co-Founder of CAS, to talk about the origin story. It didn't start in a boardroom. It started with Alma Cabacungan, a parent who saw a gap in the system. Large institutions were doing great work, but they were big ships to turn. Alma wanted something nimble. She wanted to help families now.

As Ken tells it, Alma had a literal "sock full of money" she had saved, and she was ready to use it to get kids into chairs.

Ken told her it was a terrible financial plan, but a brilliant mission. Together with Dr. Hurlburt, they built CAS to fill that gap. They built it to be the organization that says "Yes" when the world says "Wait."

The Grit: Finding the "New Normal"

Ken knows the struggle because he’s lived it. His own story is a testament to the "Grit" we talk about on this show.

Ken went into the hospital to treat Sarcoma and, as he puts it, "I walked in, and I rolled out." He lost half his hip and his leg to save his life.

For many, that is where the story stops. For Ken, it was a pivot. His journey to finding his "new normal" didn't happen overnight. It took experimentation. He discovered Chicago No Limit Fishing, finding a way to get back onto the water. He picked up a compound bow, modifying his approach to make archery accessible.

He found that his life wasn't over; it just required different tools. That personal resilience (the refusal to quit) is the DNA of Chicago Adaptive Sports. It’s why he pushes so hard to ensure the next generation has those tools ready and waiting for them.

The Future: A Place of Our Own

We have the community. We have the grit. Now, we need the home.

Right now, CAS operates like a nomad. We practice at the Jesse White Community Center. Our kids play at Rainbow Beach. We are constantly navigating logistics, travel times, and facility fees.

The "Great Mission" that drives Ken, Alma, and the entire board, is to build a dedicated, accessible-first facility in Chicago.

Imagine a space with four full courts, a track, and a pool, all designed for adaptive athletes, not just modified for them. A place where you don't have to check if the elevator works or if the bathroom stall is wide enough. A place that belongs to us.

Push. Play. Persist.

Until that facility is built, we keep grinding. We keep hosting tournaments at the Armory. We keep fixing chairs. We keep showing up for these kids.

If you watched the video and felt that spark; if you saw the smiles on those kids' faces and understood, even for a second, what this means; I invite you to join us.

Volunteer. Donate. Share this story.

We are on our own, but we don't have to do it by ourselves.

Watch the full episode above to see the action, hear the stories, and witness the power of Chicago Grit.