Teen with cerebral palsy joins MWSU women's basketball through Team IMPACT

Monica Dunn, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Oct. 22—The Missouri Western State University women's basketball team welcomed a new addition on Friday through the Team IMPACT program.

Team IMPACT partners kids with a serious illness or disability with a college athletic team. Cheyenne Adams, a 15-year-old from Leona, Kansas, who has cerebral palsy, signed to the Missouri Western team for two years. While Adams won't be playing on the court, she'll be a team member all the same.

She said she felt happy after signing with the Griffons.

"It's a real relationship that she's going to build over time with our players and our players are going to build over time with her," said Emily Wacker, MWSU women's basketball assistant coach.

The team invited Adams to Missouri Western's campus for an official recruitment campus tour before Adams signed on Friday. Adams will attend practices and games with the basketball team for the next two years.

"She's going to come back to games. She's gonna be a part of what we are doing, calls, Facetimes, all that when she can't be here," Wacker said.

One of Adam's new teammates said Team IMPACT is helping bridge the barrier between students who have not had the opportunity to play sports with those who do.

"It's been a great opportunity for us to recognize it's more than just basketball," said Trinity Knapp, MWSU women's basketball player. "Cheyenne is an awesome girl and we're glad she gets to be part of our team."

Adams' humor stands out to her teammates.

"She's hilarious," Knapp said. "She makes all of us laugh all the time."

Wacker echoed the sentiment.

"She has an infectious smile and it just carries over," Wacker said.

Adams has never been on a team before.

"Getting to have a whole team of friends, getting to participate and be on a team, that's something she's never gotten to do, and so it's huge," said Cathryn Adams, Cheyenne's mother. "Having a team is a big deal. It makes you feel like you belong, makes each day easier."

Teamwork is an important value with the women's basketball team. It is something Wacker hopes to share with Adams.

"I hope she feels that we genuinely care about her and want to support her in all of her areas of life, and really be there for her like a family. We call our team a family, and she's absolutely a part of that," Wacker said.