Move United Announces Inaugural Cohort of Brand Ambassadors
Move United, the national leader in community-based adaptive sports and recreation, has announced four adaptive athletes that will serve as the organization’s inaugural cohort of brand ambassadors.
As ambassadors, these athletes will help scale awareness about adaptive sports and increase participation for individuals with physical disabilities. By modeling their own involvement with adaptive sports, these athletes will demonstrate the power of sport by showing what is possible and the impact that community has on individuals. Through their efforts, they will be able to advocate for accessibility and inclusion in broader sport, recreation, and fitness spaces.
These four athletes were selected based on their current involvement in the local, regional, and national adaptive sports landscape. Each of them has committed to supporting continued outreach and advocacy efforts on behalf of Move United, including representing the organization at events, competitions, community outreach activities, and inclusion or disability-awareness events. They also will work to recruit and mentor other athletes with disabilities, including new participants. But most importantly, they have agreed to share their personal adaptive sport journey to raise disability awareness and highlight the power of sport.
The inaugural cohort of athletes include Brittany Apgar, Margaret Beaudoin, Michael O’Hearn, and Annijke Wade.
Apgar, of Greensboro, North Carolina, was picked in the third round of the draft, 15th overall, for the inaugural season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL). Apgar, born with a limb difference, began playing baseball as soon as she could walk. A member of the LA Queens team, Apgar made history several years back competing on an all-girls team that won the Boys of Summer Tournament. “Being a Move United ambassador is personal: it’s my chance to show that ‘disabled’ and ‘dream chaser’ aren’t mutually exclusive, and if I can make a few people believe that a little louder, I’ve done my job,” Apgar said. “Off the field, I’m working on becoming a louder voice for adaptive athletes, youth, and underrepresented communities. Representation shouldn’t be a rare sighting; it should be the norm.”
Beaudoin started running with a school club in first grade and joined her school’s competitive cross country and track teams in the fourth grade, where she began exploring how she compared to other athletes with cerebral palsy. Although she has participated in many adaptive sports, track & field—especially throwing events—has always been her main passion. Beaudoin has competed on her high school varsity track team, earned international classification status, went on to compete at the World CP Games (bronze medalist), the U.S. Paralympic Nationals multiple years and Paralympic Team Trials in 2021 and 2024. She was a member of Team USA for the 2023 Para Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. “Being a Para Sports Ambassador is about building bridges and relationships. Because so many people helped me along my journey, I am dedicated to supporting younger athletes.”
O’Hearn is a 2026 Paralympian who competed in alpine skiing in Milano Cortina in the LW9-1 classification, which covers standing athletes with impairments affecting at least one arm and at least one leg, including those resulting from conditions such as cerebral palsy, limb differences or reduced joint mobility. Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, O’Hearn was on skis by age three, drawn to the sport through a combination of family support and the natural appeal of a mountain. He started with the Adaptive Sports Foundation in Windham, New York and now trains with the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah, both Move United member organizations. He is a 2024 graduate of Westminster University in Salt Lake City and currently an LA28 Athlete Fellow. “Representation is not passive. It creates visibility, and visibility creates momentum. That momentum is what changes perception over time,” said O’Hearn. “For me, being an ambassador is about contributing to that movement forward. It is about shifting the landscape and expanding the narrative around what is possible, not despite disability, but empowered and powered by one.”
Wade immediately found adaptive sports in 2021, following a downhill mountain bike accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury (SCI). Wade knew very early on that she wanted to be an adaptive mountain biker and also wanted to try as many adaptive sports as possible. Wade finished in 1st place in the Sturdy Dirty Enduro 2025 Adaptive Sport Category and recently took 3rd place in the Sea Otter Classic Downhill race adaptive in 2026. “Finding adaptive sports changed the trajectory of life. Adaptive sports have allowed me to feel powerful, have a sense of purpose, refined my discipline, provided opportunities for mentorship and most importantly, have brought me immense joy,’ Wade said. “Representing Move United and helping empower community is something I’m very passionate about. I’d love to see more people have the opportunity to participate in sport and recreation at all levels, from all backgrounds, from all disabilities.”
Each ambassador will have access to small grants for outreach, event-hosting, coaching, clinics, equipment, travel, or other expenses. The goal is to provide a pathway for individuals interested in long-term engagement with the organization and a means for the athletes to consistently contribute to and help guide Move United over time.
For more information, or to learn more about these brand ambassadors, visit www.moveunitedsport.org/sports/our-athletes/?type=move-united-brand-ambassador.
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