Championing Inclusivity

When Kate Rougeau, Ph.D., SHS ’07, started coaching youth wheelchair basketball 17 years ago, she never imagined that her love for sports would lead her to the World Championships with the possibility of the Paralympics. A coordinator and assistant professor of wellness and health promotion in OU’s School of Health Sciences, Dr. Rougeau is committed to educating people about diverse populations — including disability as a diversity class — and the psychophysiological benefits of physical activity for all.

“I love sports and the opportunities they afford people,” Rougeau says. “I want to help give that to others, especially a population that doesn't typically get to participate.”

Rougeau fell in love with adaptive sports after volunteer coaching at an all-sports summer camp for children with disabilities, and officially joined the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) in 2009. After a couple of years coaching prep (age 5-13) and juniors (age 14-18), she pursued a graduate assistant position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was the assistant coach for the men's and women’s wheelchair basketball teams from 2010-17. Rougeau maintained her involvement in coaching within the NWBA over the years and was ultimately selected as team leader for the Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship team.

In 2023, Rougeau traveled with the team to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation’s Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Thailand. As team lead, she was responsible for all the travel details, including booking flights and places to stay, meal planning and the logistics of international travel for a team of 18, most of whom are full-time wheelchair users. This was no small undertaking, as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t exist internationally.

While some countries were helpful, careful and involved, travel for individuals with disabilities is unfortunately not always a positive experience. At one point during this trip, the athletes were refused their everyday, custom-built wheelchairs at an airport and instead given the equivalent of hospital chairs, which can negatively impact an individual's mobility, independence and safety.

“Imagine somebody says, ‘Oh you don’t need your shoes (legs), take these, wear them for seven hours and you’ll be fine,’” explains Rougeau. “Well, you’re not going to be fine. Our staff worked together to advocate for our athletes so they didn’t have to worry about that.”

Photo by Erik Huemiller

With the support of Rougeau and other leaders, the team successfully made it to Thailand in good health. It was a magical experience for Team USA, who dominated the competition. “Winning gold was the best part of the journey,” she says. “And it was incredible to see the team make new connections and play with people they had never played with before.”

As for Rougeau, the ultimate goal is the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles to accentuate the successes she is building in her teaching, research and service work as a professor at OU. “I’m grateful that my passion and career can overlap, and that I can live my dream while supporting others in reaching theirs,” she says. “I see my involvement as a way of serving my community and my country, representing something bigger than myself.”