Brent Hardin

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

1. Hardin, B. (2007). Physical education textbooks and portrayals of disability. PALAESTRA. Volume 23, Issue 4.
2. Giacobbi, P.R., Jr., Hardin, B., Frye, N., Hausenblas, H. A., Sears, S., & Stegelin, A. (2006). A multi-level examination of personality, exercise, and daily life events for individuals with physical disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 23, Issue 2.
3. Hardin, B. (2005). Preparing physical educators for inclusion: Practitioners perceptions regarding teacher education.  The Physical Educator. Volume 62, Issue 1.
4. Hardin, M., & Hardin B. (2005). Performance or Participation…Pluralism or Hegemony? Images of Disability & Gender in Sports ‘n Spokes Magazine. Disability Studies Quarterly. Volume 25, Issue 4.
5. Hardin, B., & Hardin M. (2004). Distorted pictures: Images of disability in physical education textbooks. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. Volume 21, Issue 4.
6. Hardin, M., & Hardin B. (2004). The supercrip in sport media: Wheelchair athletes discuss hegemony’s disabled hero. Sociology of Sport Online. Volume 7, Issue 1.

BIOGRAPHY

Brent Hardin is the co-founder and Director of the Adapted Athletics program at the University of Alabama. Dr. Hardin arrived at Alabama in 2003 as an Assistant Professor and soon thereafter began building the Adapted Athletics program with support of co-founder Dr. Margaret Stran and University President, Robert Witt. The program started with women’s wheelchair basketball in 2003 and later grew to include men’s wheelchair basketball in 2006, men’s and women’s wheelchair tennis in 2013 and is set to roll out wheelchair track and para swimming by 2025. What started as a small volunteer program is now home to over 30 high performance student athletes with disabilities and12 full time coaches and staff. The Adapted Athletics program at the University of Alabama is a stand-alone department and is not associated with or supported by the NCAA affiliated Intercollegiate Athletic Department on campus.

In 2017, under Dr. Hardin’s leadership, the program moved into a new $10-million, first-of-its-kind facility, dedicated adapted athletics arena and training center. The training center includes a wheelchair basketball arena, sport medicine center, strength and conditioning area, locker rooms, coaches’ offices, conference room, and student lounge. In 2021, Adapted Athletics moved into another first-in-the-nation collegiate wheelchair tennis center that features locker rooms, coaches’ offices, an athletic training area, and a student lounge. Dr. Hardin is currently leading a fundraising effort to add wheelchair track locker rooms, a wheelchair track indoor training area, and a student study and nutrition area to the adapted athletics arena by 2025.

The Adapted Athletics program at Alabama has achieved competitive success nationally and internationally with 11 wheelchair basketball national championships and 7 wheelchair tennis national championships since the program’s inception in 2003. Under Dr. Hardin’s guidance the University of Alabama has become a mainstay at the Paralympics with 33 athletes and coaches representing 7 different countries since 2004 with an average of over 20 current and former athletes and coaches competing in the London, Rio, and Tokyo Paralympics alone.

Alabama Adapted Athletics has sent 11 USA athletes to Paralympics in 4 different sports. Currently UA has 4 student athletes on the USA women’s wheelchair basketball national team, 1 coach on the USA wheelchair tennis team, and 3 student athletes on the USA Men’s Under 23 national wheelchair basketball team. The current men’s and women’s head wheelchair basketball coaches are on the staff for the USA women’s national wheelchair basketball team and the USA men’s under 23 wheelchair basketball team. 

Teaching philosophy

Dr. Hardin’s courses are designed to improve awareness of Paralympic sports and raise expectations of athletes with disabilities.  This is accomplished with a large variety of in person interactions and experiences in adapted athletic settings.