RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond athlete Hannah Smith will be honored at the 2024 ESPY Awards for her international work in advocating for adaptive sports.
Smith, who was born with Spina Bifida, first began playing adaptive sports at 11 years old with Sportable,an organization that focuses on making sports accessible for those with physical disabilities.
With Sportable, Smith became a competitive wheelchair basketball player, as well as an advocate for adaptive sports.
In 2022, CBS 6 Sports Director Lane Casadonte spoke with Smith, who was entering her sophomore year of college at the time.
Smith participated in the Victory Junction camp, a program started for children with disabilities and chronic needs.
"Going to Victory Junction basically opened all the doors for me and convinced myself and my parents that I could be independent one day. I could live independently and I could go to college," Smith said of the camp.
And now, two years later, she is being honored for her work to develop and launch Sportable's first wheelchair basketball camp and women's basketball clinic.
Smith will be honored with The Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award at the ESPYs on July 11.
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