At 9 months old Jack had a seizure.  After a CT scan and MRI it was determined that he had a right parietal arachnoid cyst and had neurosurgery to remove it at the age of 1.  At age 3 he was diagnosed with a global developmental delay and dyspraxia (which impeded his motor planning ability), and a few years ago with autism as well. Jack learned to ski with Joe and the many wonderful instructors at The Bart Adaptive Sports Center at age 8. He started in the beginners area and on tethers, and can now ride the chairlift and ski down greens and blues independently. He has a need for speed and can ski with family and friends, but still prefers to ski winter mornings with Bart.  Jack loves sports and we are beyond grateful to The Bart Adaptive Sports Center for giving him the love of skiing. Jack’s favorite things about Bart are “the instructors”, checking the board to see “who do I ski with today” and yelling “woohoo” on his way down the mountain.  

​​​Summer programs are underway, we have had a great time playing golf and cycling in June with all our participants. July is beginning to shape up the same way. Lots of smiles each week at programming from both our volunteers and our students.
Please click the adventure button to see all the photos so far this summer.
We would like to thank the following businesses for their continued support in allowing us to host our program there.
Dana Thompson Memorial Park
Manchester Country Club
The Practice Tee Home of 802 Golf Academy
Walmart in Bennington
We hope that you stop by to say hello before the end of the summer.
​Email us at programs@bartadaptive.org for more information. 

​Elliott is 9 years old. He loves skiing, trains, trucks and building. Elliott has epilepsy, ataxia and visual impairment. He loves skiing with all of his buddies from the Bart Center. He looks forward to his lessons and has been getting stronger and more independent each season.

MANCHESTER — “The only limits that people have are limits they set themselves,” says Joe Hurley, Executive Director of Bart J. Ruggerie Adaptive Sports Center.
The Sports Center provides an opportunity for children, adults and veterans with physical and cognitive disabilities to enjoy outdoor sports, including skiing, snowboarding, golf, cycling and more. The center was created in honor of Ruggerie, a ski enthusiast who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York City’s Twin Towers.
“A lot of times with adaptive [sports], there’s a saying that ‘If I can do this, I can do anything,” said Hurley.
“For them to be able to get on a bike and conquer three miles around, it may lead them to say, ‘Gee, if I went to work a couple times a week, I can do this because I can ride a bike. I can do this.”
The father and daughter duo — Betsy Hurley who was born and raised in Bennington, is an administrative assistant at the program — who lead the program arrive at Dana Thompson Park in the morning with a trailer filled with a variety of adaptive, hand and foot-powered cycles.
Kieran, a participant in the program, began attending the Adaptive Sports program seven years ago.
“When he started, he was riding back and forth in the parking lot,” said Joe Hurley. These days, he can do two entire laps around the Dana Thompson Park on a TerraTrike. With the help of volunteers, Kieran has also been able to participate in standup skiing, as well.
“One of our largest challenges is making sure we can get enough volunteers,” said Betsy Hurley.
Volunteers are a vital part of the program – the program currently has about 75 volunteers who are critical in providing supervision, lessons, and support to participants.
Another participant on Tuesday morning, Lydia, biked around on a standup mountain bicycle, with volunteer Hope following closely behind, both seeming to enjoy the silence and sunny morning at the park.

Participants come to the program for a variety of reasons, including for fun, strength-building, confidence and community.
“For some, it’s about the camaraderie of seeing the same people every week and seeing peers,” said Betsy Hurley.
“Some of them stay connected,” added Joe Hurley.

The Bart Adaptive Sports Center was born when Ruggerie’s family approached Joe Hurley about starting a program for people with disabilities to learn to ski at Bromley Mountain.
“His family wanted to make it so that people with disabilities had the same opportunity to ski, like Bart did at Bromley, after they saw me sitting inside waiting for my dad to finish up another lesson he was teaching,” said Betsy Hurley.
She has competed in many sports, including Alpine Skiing in The World Games in 2000 in Anchorage, Alaska, winning a bronze medal for the USA. She was inducted into the New England Wheelchair Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Bart Adaptive Sports Center’s current Summer Program meets on Tuesdays in Manchester and Thursday in Bennington from 10 a.m. to noon.
The 13th Annual No Limits Golf Tournament is Sept. 19 at the Stratton Mountain Golf Course.

For more information visit their website www.bartadaptive.org or reach out via email programs@bartadaptive.org.

Excited about spring? We sure are looking forward to seeing all our summer participants and their families. Are you looking forward to playing some golf, or riding bicycles a little bit? Keep reading and find out about some exciting news and events, including our upcoming golf tournament in September.
Before we start with summer programming, we would like to wrap up the winter by saying "Thank You" to all our participants and, volunteers. We would also like to thank Bromley, Stratton and the Hermitage Club for having us at your mountains this season. Another huge thank you goes out to all of you, our supporters. Below you will find a few pictures that help recap some of this season's successes. We will be updating this link on a regular basis to include our summer programs and events as well.

Hello Everyone,
I want to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you to all the participants that come to Bart Adaptive Sports Center. Thank you for coming even during a time that COVID is still active and working with us to help keep everyone safe. I want to say Thank you to all the volunteers that help make this our 19-season possible we cannot do this without you. Let's not forget the supporters that have given us donations to help offset our operations.

We had a great season at all three locations. Bromley, Stratton, and The Hermitage Club. We did almost pre COVID number of lessons. That is a great comeback from last year's COVID experience. Thank you to the participants and the volunteers for helping to get us back on track. We did make the hard decision to cancel our Wounded Military Heroes dinner this season but still had 14 veterans come and participate at the end of January. To be able to support our veterans and see them out on the hill skiing and riding.

This was a very special two days of skiing and riding. We are also fortunate to have partnered up with the Vermont Veterans hospital and had a great day of skiing in February with this group.

Will be looking forward to having some additional veteran days next season.
I know personally to see all the accomplishments on the hill skiing and riding this season was a great thing to see. This did not come from just the participants, it also come from our volunteers.

As we get ready for summer we look forward to our summer programming. We will be doing cycling in Bennington and Manchester areas. Our golf program will be in the Manchester area and possibly Stratton. We are hoping that our new Adaptive Golf cart will get a workout this season. If you have a physical disability and want to come to play (even in our Golf tournament) let Betsy know. We have partnered with the Vermont VA once again to do some golf outings this summer. So I am thinking it is going to be a busy summer.
​
Speaking of golf, I am sure that you have heard our No Limits golf event has moved this season. We will be supporting Stratton’s golf course and a new day. Our 13th annual event will be on Monday, September 19, 2022. So, let’s get your teams ready. This will make a great three-day weekend to come to Vermont, play a championship course and help support Bart Adaptive Sports. What more could one ask for.
Well, it's time to take a breather and get ready for summer. I look forward to seeing you all out on the bikes or golf courses.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Joe Hurley
Executive Director

Summer Programs
Did you hear the news at the end of 2021 summer season? Bart Adaptive Sports Center received their adaptive golf cart. That's right, you heard it here Bart Adaptive Sports Center has an adaptive golf cart for people with physical disabilities to be able to come out and learn the game of golf.
This summer Bart Adaptive Sports Center is continuing our partnership with the Therapeutic Recreation Department with the Vermont VA out of White River Junction to do some additional cycling and golfing.
The 2022 summer program sign ups are now open for all participants. Please register for our cycling or golfing program starting June 6th through September 30, 2022.
We're seeking volunteers to help teach our students for both cycling and golfing this summer.
For more information please contact us at programs@bartadaptive.org

PERU — “I think sports heals a lot of things,” said Bart J. Ruggiere Adaptive Sports Center executive director Joe Hurley.

The sports center based on Bromley Mountain focuses on providing people with cognitive and physical disabilities the opportunity to participate in sports.

Individuals who never thought it would be possible to play sports are given the opportunity to do so through Bart Adaptive Sports Center.

“What it does is increase the opportunity for them to be able to do things that they never thought they could do,” Hurley said.

Those sports include snowboarding and skiing during the winter. Last year, the program was able to offer more than 500 adaptive ski and snowboarding lessons to those with disabilities.​