Since starting Inclusion Sports Performance Training four years ago, Coach Shannon Schafer has been focused primarily on providing educational and recreation programs for the neurodivergent community.
One of her philosophies since that beginning has been that everyone can benefit from performance training, regardless of ability. Whether they are training in gymnastics, swimming, bike riding, team sports or social skills, she believes, all students ages 6 months through grade school can benefit from the programs that Inclusion Sports offers.
Since its foundation, Inclusion Sports Performance Training has been sharing a facility on Graphics Drive in Ewing with another business, Schafer Sports Center. There, Schafer and her staff of coaches train their special needs students.
Inclusion Sports has also had a location on West Broad Street in Hopewell Borough, where it offers a variety of training classes to children of any neurotype.
Schafer is excited to be in the process of combining all of her operations into one at a new facility, currently under renovation, that also just happens to be about midway between the two current locations. The new facility will be on Route 31 in Hopewell Township, just barely inside the line between the township and Pennington Borough.
There, she says, she and her staff will be able to provide the kind of training they offer to both neurodivergent and neurotypical students, as well as introduce a number of new programs.
“In Pennington, we are going to expand on being extremely inclusive of neurotypical and neurodivergent students in one location,” Schafer says. “We want to focus on inclusivity in a much larger way.”
Schafer is targeting a Feb. 1 opening of the new facility, though that may change. “I’m combining both of my locations into one. I’ll be working with all kids, of all abilities, not just one population of kids.”
She says that the new facility will have a main gymnasium area, plus another “sensory space” for students who do better in environments with less noise and stimulation. That room will also be available for party rentals.
“We want to have birthday parties, we want to have a separate space for students who require a quieter, smaller environment than the main gym,” Schafer says.
Inclusion Sports will continue to offer gymnastics classes for students ages 6 months and up. Children ages 6 months to 3 years old can enroll in Tiny Crawlers parent-child classes, where trainers provide age-appropriate activities designed to enhance both fine and gross motor skills and improve flexibility.
When they are ready, kids (and their parents) can advance to the Lil’ Movers class, where they can focus on coordination and balance. Once they reach preschool age, kids can progress toward more advanced classes where they can learn the fundamentals of gymnastics at their own pace, in a noncompetitive environment.
Inclusion Sports also offers bike riding classes. New students are evaluated in a private session before being placed in the appropriate classes that are held weekly in fall and spring.
Swim classes are a part of the overall curriculum as well. Again, Inclusion Sports offers private one-to-one sessions to evaluate students before placing them in the appropriate weekly classes. Because the new facility will not have a pool, swimming lessons will continue to be held in Ewing at the Schafer Sports Center.
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Schafer and her staff always look to help students develop social as well as physical skills.
“All kids need to learn how to socialize and how to benefit from movement,” Schafer says. In (the new space) we have an opportunity to expose both populations to how to play appropriately, how to communicate appropriately with one another. It’s really about building social skills and life skills along with the movement.”
These are among the things Schafer focuses on when prospective students and their parents visit Inclusion Sports to learn what it’s all about. And that is the case whether those students are neurotypical or neurodivergent.
“For all children, socialization is really important. The physical aspect of everyday fundamental movement is important,” Schafer says. “Helping to manage behaviors is important. We tend to meet our students where they are and map out programs for each child. Because it’s such an individualized program, our programs are really dependent on the children and where they are.”
When it is necessary, Inclusion Sports coaches provide one-to-one training for their students. “The goal is to do that in a productive, nurturing way, so that we can eventually try to transition them into a semiprivate and then a small group class, where it’s appropriate,” Schafer says.
Schafer’s long-term plan has always been to eventually offer classes for every student, in the same space.
For parties, Schafer envisions special occasions that include games, obstacle courses, music and cake. Parties can be scheduled on weekends, when the facility will otherwise be closed, allowing partygoers to tumble and climb to their hearts’ content.
Inclusion Sports also offers Kids Night Out programming, three-hour evening sessions when kids are able to do arts and crafts, play games, do gymnastics and watch a movie. These monthly sessions are already offered in Ewing, with plans to continue the program after the move is complete.
“I feel like our neurotypical and neurodivergent students benefit in so many ways from being in the same space. We want to have that family-friendly community, we want to teach our neurotypical students about inclusivity, being kind, being empathetic, being helpful,” Schafer says.” And we want our neurodivergent population to be exposed to neurotypical students so they can learn those things as well. It will make for a better community of our kids learning together.”
Inclusions Sports Performance Training also offers a summer camp. This year’s full- and half-day camps are scheduled to start on June 23 and end on Aug. 22. Camp activities include gymnastics, biking, basketball and other sports games. As always, there will be a social- and life-skills components of each activity, as well as a focus on helping students build self esteem and their motor skills.
Schafer says that being a part of a community is very important to her. She has served as president of the PTO at Stony Brook Elementary School and also served as a board member for the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation.
She has been a member of the Parent Advisory Board at Hopewell Valley Regional High School, participating in the annual Wellness Day events in the district.
“My boys grew up here and graduated from HVCHS and I still live here,” Schafer says. “So, having my new location in the district that has meant so much to me brings me so much joy and excitement. Advocating for all kids, providing recreational activities for all kids and being immersed in our community has always been a priority for me and how I live my life.”
The new location will be: 55 Route 31 South, Building B130, Pennington NJ. For more information, including updates on the scheduled opening of the new facility, go to the website.
A student at Inclusion Sports Performance Training, which expects to consolidate its Ewing and Hopewell operations into a single facility in early 2025.,
