ELLSWORTH — Around a decade ago, Stacey Robey helped create a floor hockey team through the Ellsworth Community School District that would give special education students an opportunity to participate in adaptive sports.

Since then, the team has continually evolved, allowing students with physical or cognitive challenges to pick up teamwork skills while enjoying the competition. Robey retired in 2023, but the program was left in good hands.

The team does not play against other schools; instead it competes against teams from the community that sign up. Teams pieced together from businesses, families and friends, organizations and more can sign up to play against them. Collaborating with the community has helped create some great connections and makes for a fun experience all around.
“The ultimate goal of the program is to just teach people that it’s not always about winning, it’s about having fun,” coach and teacher Sarah Ainsworth said. “We want to learn some new skills, so that’s the really cool part that we see with the kids is that they’re learning different strategies depending on their physical needs or how they adapt to be able to be successful on the court.”

Missie and Bryan Olson’s daughter, Maddie Olson, and Ainsworth’s son Jay were all a part of the team during Robey’s days. They knew how much the program meant to the students and decided to take it over.

There has been significant growth in the size of the team as students from elementary to high school start practice in December and finish their season in February. They learn about sportsmanship, sign a code of conduct and hone their skills.

“If they’re struggling with not wanting to come to school or if they’re struggling with friend groups or whatever, this is a good way to have something else to look forward to,” Ainsworth said. “As a parent, I would say it’s just really nice to feel like even though my son has a learning disability and difficulties in other areas of his life, that he has somewhere where he feels like he is on top of the world.”

Everyone involved knows the importance of the team, and they are determined to keep the opportunity alive for as long as they can.

“I’m really overextended with my time as a teacher, but to see the smiles on their faces and to know that there’s certain kids that the only reason they come to school is because of floor hockey, to know that they’ve never played on any other team, that they’ve never been welcome to play on any other sport, but they know that they belong here and they feel good about themselves, that fills me up so much and that’s why we want to continue to do what we do,” Ainsworth said.

One of Ainsworth’s favorite parts of being around the team is seeing players that have been around since before they were in high school develop into mentors for the elementary and middle school players by the time they become upperclassmen.

For people interested in being added as a team to next year’s schedule, stay tuned to the district’s Facebook next winter for when the game dates are released.