New Peach County wheelchair sports team makes history, wins first football championship

The Peach County Junior Varsity Rolling Trojans have won a state championship in their first year of competition.

The team won the American Association of AdaptED Sports Programs 2024 wheelchair football state championship Saturday in a 26-23 triumph .over the undefeated Houston County JV Sharks. The newly-formed JV Rolling Trojans made history twice last week, said Walter Johnson, head coach of the Rolling Trojans.

“It was the first time in 25 years that a team in their first year (of competition) went to the state championship, and it was the first time ever a first-year team won a state championship,” Johnson said.

The JV Sharks won the handball and basketball state championships this year, but the JV Rolling Trojans ended their perfect season with this football win, said Christy Jones, former Sharks coach and current AdaptED Sports physical education teacher for the Peach County Board of Education.

Johnson, who was coached by Jones when playing for the Sharks in high school, said that although the Sharks are well-known for their dominance in wheelchair sports, the Trojans have brought fierce opposition.

“It’s different because we’re a new team and nobody expected us to come in competing like that,” he said. “Just (looking at) the progress of our Peach County players, they can tell we’ve gotten way better.”

The players had never participated in wheelchair sports before joining the team, so learning how to use the wheelchairs and the game’s regulations was a team effort from the beginning, Johnson added.

Johnson said the team’s ability to work together helped them win the state title.

He added that another factor in the victory was the team’s capacity to apply his pep talks during practices and games, which motivates the group to avoid conflict and concentrate on improving their communication skills.

“I just teach them to lift each other up,” Johnson said. “If somebody drops the pass or somebody does something, tell them it’s going to be alright instead of screaming at them because screaming will get us nowhere.”

Jones expressed her appreciation for Johnson’s coaching, which aligns with the American Association of AdaptED Sports’ mission to provide a structured and competitive environment for students with physical impairments and medical conditions, she said.

“It also gives them a place to form friendships because our team is made up of students all around our county. It’s not just one school. We have five different schools representing our team,” Jones said.

Jones also said the team couldn’t have been formed without the support of the community, school board and the AdaptED Sports $30,000 grant, which helped purchase sports equipment.

“The grant helped us start off on a good foot,” Johnson said. “We got everything we needed and then some. Having the proper equipment helped us to be successful because we didn’t need anything.”

Jones said the Peach County School District will add a third sports program of wheelchair handball to the lineup.

Any child who is enrolled in schools in Peach County is allowed to play in the programs until 12th grade, Johnson said.

“Right now, I have a first grader on my team. As long as he wants to play until senior year, I’ll have him for the next 10 years,” he added.

Johnson said he encourages his squad to play strategically and avoid getting complacent as they work to defend their newly-won championship.

“This is our first year having wheelchair football and wheelchair basketball, and (Johnson) was a real big part of success for both programs,” Peach County Athletic Director Greg Ellison said.

The 2024 wheelchair football state champions were: Jace Tolliver and Caleb Watters of Byron Elementary School; AJ Burns and Jace Harter of Byron Middle School; Sannitra Colbert of Peach County High School; Kaleb Taylor of Fort Valley Middle School and Lilyan Harter of Kay Road Elementary School.