This document was updated in October 2025 to establish clear communication and attendance expectations for athletes participating in Sportable adaptive programs. The overall goal of this policy is to set and enforce consistent standards that allow Sportable to continue to provide a high level of programming for our entire athlete community.

Communication Policy

The most important expectation is for athletes to consistently communicate with program staff about their intent to attend programs.

1. Athletes must complete all registration requirements prior to attending any program.
2. Athletes must respond to ALL communications asking about “IN or OUT” status for a
   program by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day of the program for evening programming. For morning programs, athletes must communicate their RSVP by 12:00 p.m. (noon) the day prior.
3. Athletes must communicate with program staff as soon as possible if plans change and they will be late or cannot attend a program they said they were coming to.
4. Athletes must communicate with program staff if they have an extended period of
   absence from a program due to health conditions, travel, or any other reason.
5. Athletes must communicate with program staff if their distance from a program or any
   other barrier leads them to planning to attend a program less than 50% (half) of the time.

Communications Timeline: For all Sportable programs, athletes are expected to respond by12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day of the program (evening) or 12:00 p.m. the day before the program (morning) to these communications to say whether or not they will be attending that program. If no response is received, it will be assumed that the athlete will not be attending the program. Their equipment will not be brought to the program and, if applicable, their spot will be given to someone on the waitlist for that program date.

• Afternoon/Evening programs
  • Athletes receive an email 2 days before with a link to submit RSVP and all of the
    program information.
  • If they did not submit RSVP via the email link yet, they’ll receive a text message one day before the program.
  • If they still have not submitted their RSVP via email or text link, they will receive a final text reminder to submit their RSVP via the link the day of the program.
• Morning Programs 
  • They'll receive an email 3 days before with a link to submit their RSVP and all of
    the program information.
  • If they did not submit their RSVP via the email link yet, they’ll receive a text message 2 days before the program.
  • If they still have not submitted their RSVP via email or text link, they will receive
    two final text reminders to submit their RSVP via the link the day before and the
    day of the program.
• Communications Accommodations
  • If Sportable Programs’ RSVP system is not accessible to you, please utilize one
    of the following options:
    • Respond to the email communication with an email that includes their RSVP. The email should be sent to programs@sportable.org.
    • Respond to the text communication with a text that includes their RSVP. The text should be sent to (804) 340-2991.
    • Call the Sportable office at (804) 340-2991 with their RSVP.
  • The same RSVP deadline outlined in this policy applies to athletes that utilize any
    of the above accommodations. We kindly ask that athletes who would like to
    utilize the above accommodation methods that you notify us via phone or email
    so that we can be aware to manually track your RSVPs weekly.

Attendance Policy

Sportable recognizes that people with disabilities have unique barriers and situations that can impact consistent on-time arrival and attendance at our programs. When athletes communicate consistently, we are willing to work with them and be flexible with our attendance policy. When athletes repeatedly fail to communicate and attend programs, we will enforce the consequences detailed below, especially for programs that are currently in high-demand with waitlists.

Attendance Expectation: Athletes are expected to attend and participate in Sportable
programs they register for and communicate each week their intent to attend. If an athlete registers for a program they later decide they cannot or do not want to continue, they must email programs@sportable.org as soon as possible to communicate the situation and their intent (e.g. an athlete who decides wheelchair lacrosse is not the right sport for them after coming to practice should email programs@sportable.org and explain that they no longer want to participate).

Roster Removal: An athlete may be removed from the roster (i.e. list of registered participants) for any ongoing program if they do not attend the program for three (3) consecutive weeks or 20% of program sessions (e.g. 8 total sessions in season would be 2 sessions, rounded up from 1.6) AND do not respond to communications during those weeks, unless otherwise previously coordinated (e.g. a family traveling out of the country for the month must let program staff know prior to the trip about their child’s long-term absence from programming). Future Participation Restrictions: For specific high-demand programs that often have waitlists (e.g. cycling, swimming), an athlete may be blocked from signing up for the next program OR put onto the waitlist for the program regardless of when they register if:

1. They attended less than 50% of program dates during the previous multi-week session
   OR
2. They “no showed” (i.e. said they were coming but did not come to the program OR
   arrived more than halfway through program time) 2 or more times during previous
   multi-week session

This attendance policy is meant to serve as a guideline and can be enforced at program staff’s discretion to account for extenuating circumstances or other situations that require reasonable flexibility (e.g. absences related to medical conditions or emergencies).