29. Tommie Storms

Tommie Storms drives the business operations of the organization. If not for her enterprising nature, American Association of Adaptive Sports (AAASP) prominence in Georgia and national recognition might have come at a much slower pace. She is also a respected speaker in the field of youth disability sports, traveling extensively throughout the United States to raise awareness. Having recruited Storms as a volunteer in Georgia’s first adapted sports programs, Bev Vaughn grew to know of Storms’ executive aptitude. In 1994, Vaughn introduced the idea to Storms of forming AAASP as the organizational vehicle by which the mission of providing opportunity through sports for America’s physically disabled youth would evolve. Storms’ role as co–founder would be to shore up the business component of Vaughn’s Adapted Sports model by directing operations, developing community partnerships and acquiring funding for the statewide programs. Balancing her position as an academic director at an Atlanta college, with her conviction to push forth the AAASP vision, Storms’ penned the business plan for AAASP’s staged growth. This plan would entail progressing from one school system throughout Georgia, and then become the national body to oversee a network of statewide youth adapted sports programs. This is the foundation for what is now known as Project ASPIRE.