Hollister Incorporated Announces Partnership with University of Alabama Adapted Athletics

Hollister Incorporated, an independent, employee-owned company that develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products worldwide is pleased to announce a $100,000 commitment to support University of Alabama Adapted Athletics. Funding will help current and/or prospective adapted athletes pursue their academic and athletic goals.

The University of Alabama Adapted Athletics (UAAA) program was founded in 2003 by Dr. Brent Hardin and Dr. Margaret Stran to enhance sport, fitness, leisure, and recreation opportunities for persons with physical disabilities at the University of Alabama (UA). The program initially started with women’s wheelchair basketball, added men’s wheelchair basketball in 2007 and wheelchair tennis in 2011. UAAA continued its steady growth with the addition of wheelchair track in 2019. The organization has grown from five athletes and two volunteer staff to over 30 athletes, 10 full-time staff and coaches, and over 170 volunteers.

Over the years, the program has amassed 14 national championship titles (six in women's wheelchair basketball, five in wheelchair tennis, and three in men's wheelchair basketball). Current or former UAAA athletes have competed in the Paralympics since 2004; in Rio in 2016 there were 22 UAAA athletes or coaches who competed in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, and para-canoeing. In January 2018, UAAA opened a $10 million facility custom designed for and dedicated to the Adapted Athletics program, the first of its kind on a college campus in the United States.

“This partnership with Hollister Incorporated is the beginning of a very important moment for our program. We are looking forward to being on this journey with the Hollister team and we firmly believe that together we will help raise expectations for student athletes with ambulatory disabilities,” said Brent Hardin, Director and Co-founder of University of Alabama Adapted Athletics.

“We are incredibly proud to support University of Alabama Adapted Athletics and are committed to helping adapted athletes thrive academically and athletically,” said Brian Luedtke, Hollister Incorporated Senior Vice President, The Americas. “The UAAA program directly aligns with our Mission to make life more rewarding and dignified for the people who use our products and services.”

On November 15th, UAAA will host the first-ever Hollister Open for men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball. The men’s game will tip-off at 5:30 pm CST and the women’s game will start at 7:30 pm CST. A livestream of both games will be available at https://www.facebook.com/alabamaadapted/.

About Hollister Incorporated
Hollister Incorporated is an independent company that develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products worldwide. The company develops, and manufactures products for ostomy care, continence care, and critical care, and also develops educational support materials for patients and healthcare professionals. Hollister Incorporated has been serving healthcare professionals and consumers for nearly 100 years and is committed to making life more rewarding and dignified for the people who use its products and services. Headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, Hollister has manufacturing and distribution centers on three continents and sells in more than 90 countries around the world. www.Hollister.com

About University of Alabama Adapted Athletics
The mission of the Adapted Athletics program at Alabama is to provide our student athletes with disabilities the same or proportionate experience and resources as other student athletes on campus. Alabama Adapted Athletics sponsors competitive collegiate sports in men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. Emerging sports include rowing and wheelchair track. For more information, please visit www.alabamaadapted.com.