PRINCETON SPECIAL SPORTS & PROGRAMS

Princeton Special Sports & Programs (PSS) was started in 2001 offering baseball to neurodiverse children and kids with disabilities as the Challenger Division of Princeton Little League. In 2003, PSS added basketball and reorganized as an independent non-profit, and then added soccer in 2004. PSS served 50-55 players in each of its three 10-week seasons a year until our youth sports program ended in 2020. The current leadership team are Co-Presidents Deborah Martin Norcross and John Pecora; Secretary and Treasurer Hana Oresky; Director of Student Volunteers Valerie Walker; and Social Activities Team Leader Eileen Donahue.   

In 2008, PSS began offering monthly dances for teens and adults. The dances are run and staffed by PSS adult and student volunteers and our partners Princeton Recreation, Montgomery Township Recreation, and most recently the Town Square at Princeton Adult Day Enrichment Center.  We now average 70+ adult and teen participants each month, many of whom have lived in our community for years.  The dances culminate with a Formal Dinner Dance in early May and a Pool Party at the Princeton Community Park Pool in late May or early June.  The dances provide critically important social opportunities that have not been readily available in our communities, especially for our adult friends and neighbors.

In 2015, PSS began exploring additional programming. In partnership with the Arts Council of Princeton and Princeton Recreation, PSS ran two Arts for All! Talent Showcases for visual and performing artists with neurodiversities or disabilities. Since then, PSS has offered multiple other activities including theater trips, group “potluck” dinners, bingo afternoons, and arts & crafts.  In 2020, PSS worked with its municipal partners to create virtual programming for our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PSS is managed and staffed entirely by adult volunteers, and operates all of its programs without public funding or grants. We are also supported by a number of student volunteers from local high schools and colleges. None of our programs would be possible without these young community servants..