Photos courtesy of Spirit League of North Carolina
In 2016, Mike Schoor, Laura Meshwork and four other co-founders launched The Spirit League with 12 players. The nonprofit now serves serves more than 100 teens and young adults with special needs, enabling them to exercise together, have fun and make friends.
nonprofit spotlight WRITTEN BY RABEKAH HENDERSON
Spirit League of North Carolina MIKE SCHOOR is passionate about basketball. Before moving to the Triangle in 2014, he spent seven seasons as an assistant high school basketball coach and four years as a travel team coach. This experience con-
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vinced him that a basketball league would be the perfect place for his fiancee Laura Meshwork’s special needs daughter, Chandler, to develop friendships and stay active. There were a few sports leagues and programs for teens with special needs and disabilities, but most of them had limitations. They didn’t operate year-round, and often only allowed participation up to a certain age. Schoor and Meshwork decided to try something different. With the help of family friend Cal Maxwell, a YMCA youth director, they launched Spirit League of North Carolina, a basketball league for athletes with special needs and disabilities, in early 2016. Spirit League operates year-round, offering athletes a consistent opportunity for socialization and exercise. “For us to have a continual program that goes throughout the year, that makes
it easier for the kids and the adults to make friends,” Meshwork said. Additionally, Spirit League doesn’t have an age limit, creating a place where participants always have a community, no matter their age. When creating the Spirit League, Schoor and his team went into it knowing that it would have to be year-round, it would have to be in a fixed place, in a safe enclosed environment, and it would have to continue forever. The nonprofit got its start in Apex and has since expanded to an additional league in Wake Forest. There are around 90 athletes in the league at any given time, from teens to young adults. “I have been surprised at the level of love and warmth that has permeated the entire program,” said Schoor. “The number one thing you see when you come to one of our practices is joy.”
