Atlanta, August 13, 2024– A legacy from the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, and the only statewide interscholastic wheelchair handball league in the nation, has produced another winning athlete who will represent the United States from Georgia. He is also the youngest athlete chosen to date for the USA Wheelchair Handball national team.
Najee Smothers, Team Captain for the DeKalb Silver Streaks, 2023 AAASP ASPIRE Award Male Athlete of the Year for the AdaptED Sports League, and junior at Grayson High School was officially named to the 10-person roster for the USA National Wheelchair Handball Team, it was announced by USA Team Handball (USATH) earlier this week. Smothers was the youngest athlete selected to represent Team USA at the Third IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, September 16-21, 2024.
The tryouts for the National team were at Auburn University earlier this summer; how fitting that Najee would find out on the last week before his own team wheelchair handball season begins for his school-based team, the DeKalb Silver Streaks. And his teammates, as well as the community at large, is excited!
“I am so proud of Najee for making the USA Handball Team!” said Lisa Patterson, the Area Coordinator for the DeKalb Silver Streaks. This moment is truly a testament to Najee’s hard work in sports! Ever since he was six years old, Najee has always given 110% effort through the AdaptED Sports he played with us. Through his dedication, commitment, leadership and sportsmanship over the past few years playing wheelchair handball, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair football with the Dekalb Silver Streaks, and track with Grayson High School, he has garnered the attention of many in the community. I know he is a great choice to represent the USA!”
Senator Kim Jackson, District 41 of the Georgia State Senate, serving the DeKalb area, AdaptED Sports Board of Director, and former USA Team Handball athlete herself (competing in the Pan American Junior Games for USA Team Handball in 2005), is one of those community enthusiasts.
“We are extremely proud of Najee being named to the USA National Wheelchair Handball team!” Senator Jackson shared. “Najee is a very gifted, world-class athlete; it’s been fun to watch him develop and compete in the AdaptED Sports League honing his skills over the years, especially in handball! Of course, that still is my favorite sport to cheer them on.”
“It’s exciting to see our students with physical disabilities – especially those with the extraordinary talent Najee so eloquently brings- able to compete regularly in an adapted sport at school,” said Tommie Storms, Executive Director, The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, Inc. – who govern Georgia schools, AdaptED Sports League. “Georgia’s public schools represent the only interscholastic wheelchair handball league in the nation. Najee could not be a more inspirational figure and a testament to our saying that ‘no one need be sidelined due to a disability.’ He is simply a joy to watch in action; this young man is going places!”
“Najee is an amazing athlete and humbled young man,” shared Noraa Smothers, Najee’s Mother. “Najee has always been a fighter , his name means ‘to trust in God’ and that’s all that we have ever done since his birth. He is such a great mentor and inspiration to other young people and especially to me. He never quits or gives up. He doesn’t talk much. He just allows his talent to speak for itself. I’m very proud of Najee in this moment, and proud to be his Mom. All that he has been through health-wise he deserves this amazing opportunity. Najee has a bright path ahead, and I’m excited to see it all unfold.”
Smothers will fly to Cairo to meet the USA team for a friendly eight-team tournament. The United States will be joined at the tournament by hosts Egypt, India, Japan, Franch, Portugal, Chile, and Brazil. The tournament in Egypt will be played with four players, per team, on the court at one time. The United States will play in Stage A, alongside Brazil, Japan and France. For more information on the tournament and the team, please visit: USA Handball | Wheelchair National Team (usateamhandball.org)
The American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, just celebrated its 28th year as a not-for-profit association dedicated to developing interscholastic adapted sports programs in partnership with national, state, and local educational agencies. One of the legacies of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, AAASP represents a standardized approach to extracurricular adapted team sports and has developed one of the nation's most comprehensive school-based athletic programs for students with physical disabilities attending elementary, middle and high schools. For more information, please visit our website at http://adaptedsports.org.
