Skip to main content

Everybody plays when you’re a Hoosier

Aug 8, 2018

Description of the following video:

[Video: Wide-shot of Indiana University basketball court. People are playing volleyball on the court during the “Everybody Plays” event.]

[Words appear: Indiana University presents]

[Video: Two females play volleyball with a beach ball in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Allison Jorden plays volleyball with a young girl, using a balloon instead of a ball, in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Wide-shot of IU gymnasium, where several people are playing volleyball with balloons.]

[Video: Close-up of an “Everybody Plays” participant waiting to play volleyball.]

[Video: Allison Jorden works with an “Everybody Plays” participant by stacking cups. They are sitting on the floor together in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Allison Jorden, an Indiana University junior, and founder of the “Everybody Plays” club, appears on camera.]

Jorden speaks: “Everybody Plays” is a club for IU student athletes who want to help athletes with physical and mental disabilities get the chance to experience life through sport and experience all the benefits of competition and a healthy life style. It was created this year and has grown into about 70-plus+ student- athletes from all different sports, all within IU Athletics. I was really involved with people with disabilities in high school, and when I came to college freshman year, I wasn’t really involved with people with disabilities that much, and I realized that that was something, a huge part of my life, that was missing.

[Video: Wide-shot of IU gymnasium, where several people are playing volleyball with beach balls. Some participants are sitting on the ground while playing instead of standing.]

[Video: Jorden plays volleyball with a young girl, using a balloon instead of a ball, in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Close-up of an “Everybody Plays” participant walking with a beach ball in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Jorden speaks on camera]

Jorden speaks: I approached Lisa Franz, who is with the IU Athletics Leadership and Life Skills department, told her my idea, and from the second I approached her and talked about it, we just took it and ran, and it turned into something that created not only a purpose for me but a purpose for a lot of student- athletes and a lot of joy for the athletes with disabilities and all the athletes that have volunteered.

[Video: Two males play volleyball with a beach ball in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Two “Everybody Plays” participants play volleyball with beach balls in the IU gymnasium. Both are smiling.]

[Video: Campers are ‘bowling’ at the IU gymnasium. They are using a regular ball and stacked cups instead of pins.]

[Video: Close-up of an “Everybody Plays” participant waiting to play volleyball.]

[Video: Wide -shot of IU gymnasium where several people are playing with cups on the floor and trying to stack them.]

[Video: Jorden speaks on camera]

Jorden speaks: Just through word-of-mouth, through lots of emails, lots of posts on IU Athletics social media, things like that, we got a lot of interest and we got the word out there. It’s free for anyone that joins, which I think is really special because it gives a lot of opportunities to people that don’t have the opportunity to be involved with something like this, with world-class athletes and world-class facilities.

 

[Video: Three female “Everybody Plays” participants are being taught how to play volleyball with a beach ball in the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Jorden appears on camera, is smiling, and walking around the IU gymnasium.]

[Video: Close-up of an “Everybody Plays” participant smiling.]

[Video: Jorden works with helps an “Everybody Plays” participant by helping her stack cups.]

[Video: Jorden appears on camera.]

Jorden speaks: So it’s great. It’s really easy for everyone involved and it gives a lot of opportunities to a lot of different people. So this is kind of just the beginning, I hope, of “Everybody Plays.” We’ve had three really successful events, and I’ve been contacted by a lot of other sports at IU that want to get in, but I don’t really want to stop with just the camps. My goal for “Everybody Plays” is it for it to become an organization that is self-sustaining, that will be here long after I am gone.

[Words appear: Indiana University]

[Words appear: Fulfilling the promise]

[Words appear: iu.edu]

[END OF TRANSCRIPT]

An Everybody Plays volunteer helps a camper throw a frisbee.

A season-ending soccer injury changed IU junior Allison Jorden’s life forever, but not in the way she expected.

The all-star athlete admits she lost part of herself when she learned the devastating news that her injury would keep her from finishing the 2017-18 soccer season. Suddenly finding herself with unexpected free time, she struggled at first to find a meaningful way to fill it.

Jorden, who has been involved with organizations that support individuals with special needs since she was in high school, decided to harness her energy into the creation of Everybody Plays, an Indiana University club that gives IU athletes the opportunity to mentor people with physical and intellectual disabilities through sport. Since the club’s creation, more than 70 IU athletes have participated.

Learn more about Allison Jorden and Everybody Plays in the video above.

An Everybody Plays camper, in a wheelchair, throws a frisbee.
Everybody Plays uses IU’s world-class athletic facilities for the club’s various events.Photo courtesy IU Athletics
An Everybody Plays camper jumps into a sand pit on the track.
Everybody Plays lets campers experience life through sport and enjoy the benefits of competition and a healthy lifestyle.Photo courtesy IU Athletics

Media Contact

IU Newsroom

Samantha Thompson

Multimedia and News Production Coordinator

More stories