Kennesaw State University is building what it describes as Georgia's first integrated Para sports program, with plans to add Para track and field and wheelchair tennis in fall 2027, followed by men's and women's wheelchair basketball in fall 2028. The university says the new teams will fold directly into its athletics department rather than operate as a separate initiative, giving Para athletes access to the same training, coaching staff and facilities as other Kennesaw State student-athletes.
According to Cobb County Courier, the university plans to introduce competition opportunities in phases and anticipates adding further sports as the program grows. Kennesaw State frames the effort as Georgia's first program to give Para athletes the same advanced training opportunities as other student-athletes while they pursue a degree, according to Athletic Business, which reports the program's inaugural sports will include Para track and field, wheelchair tennis, and men's and women's wheelchair basketball.
Existing Coaches Will Take On New Teams
Cale McDaniel, Kennesaw State's director of track and field and cross country, currently leads the university's men's and women's track and field programs and has guided both squads to a Conference USA championship, per the Cobb County Courier's reporting. He is set to serve as head coach for Para track and field once that team begins competing in 2027.
Matt Emery, the school's director of tennis, continues to lead Kennesaw State's men's and women's tennis programs and will take on coaching duties for the new wheelchair tennis team. Athletic Business notes that the current directors of track and field and tennis are expected to take over coaching the Para athletes as well, meaning the university is folding the new rosters into its existing coaching structure rather than hiring separate staff.
University Leaders Frame The Program's Goals
Kennesaw State University President Kathy S. Schwaig said the program expands opportunities for elite student-athletes and creates a culture where every student can compete, excel and achieve their potential, according to the Cobb County Courier's reporting. Milton Overton, the university's director of athletics, said elite Para athletes will enhance teams, strengthen campus culture, broaden perceptions of collegiate athletics, and help shape Para sports at universities nationwide.
The university says it aims to become a destination for elite Para student-athletes pursuing education, high-level sports, careers and university community engagement, and that Para student-athletes will have access to the same resources, support services and championship-driven culture available to the rest of Kennesaw State Athletics. The school says it will announce additional program details in the coming months, and prospective Para student-athletes can complete an interest form on the KSU Athletics website.
A Thin But Growing National Landscape
Kennesaw State's plans arrive amid a broader, uneven push to expand adaptive sports in college athletics. The USOPC and NCAA Office of Inclusion launched the Para-College Inclusion Project in 2021 to build awareness around collegiate adaptive sport, initially focusing on wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and Para track and field before expanding since 2024 into Para fencing, Para swimming and Para rowing, according to NCAA.org. The NCAA itself does not sanction adaptive athletics programs or sponsor adaptive sports championships, according to a 2026 article in the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport and an August 2024 report from the Houston Chronicle.
The scale of that gap is notable: researchers behind the 2026 Journal of Intercollegiate Sport study found only 18 universities offering intercollegiate sports programs for students with disabilities at the time of their research, compared with more than 1,100 NCAA programs for able-bodied athletes. The same study, which collected 30 surveys representing 61% of U.S. para-collegiate sports programs, found fewer than half of respondents had access to media days, leadership development opportunities, name-image-likeness activities or varsity athletic facilities — even as 77% described their sports experience as transformative and the remaining 23% called it meaningful.
Counts of existing programs vary depending on the source: Athletic Business reports that Kennesaw State joins 19 other universities with Para sports programs, including the University of Alabama and the University of Arizona, while the NCAA separately states that competitive Para sport programs are offered at more than 20 colleges across 17 states. Other schools have taken different paths into the space — the University of Houston fields competitive co-ed wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis teams, with its wheelchair tennis team winning a national championship in 2024, according to the Houston Chronicle, while the University of Cincinnati partners with UC Health for sport science and equipment support, per the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Eastern Washington University's program, established in 2019, includes wheelchair basketball, and the University of Michigan added Para Powerlifting to its adaptive sports offerings in 2025.
For now, Kennesaw State's plans remain in the announcement phase, with no confirmation yet of exact competition dates within the fall 2027 and fall 2028 windows or of which governing body, if any, will oversee the new teams' matchups. The USOPC has noted that 115 athletes on the 2024 U.S. Paralympic team had competed collegiately, representing 90 schools and 43 conferences — a pipeline Kennesaw State's new program is positioning itself to join.
