Arts & Entertainment
Students With Disabilities Practice Alongside UIC Women’s Basketball Team as Part of the Beautiful Lives Project
Courtney Thomas, left, and Salvador Ramirez, right, practice their basketball skills at the UIC Flames Athletic Center on Oct. 16, 2025. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Southside Occupational Academy student Courtney Thomas was no stranger to playing basketball when he stepped on the court at the UIC Flames Athletic Center Thursday morning.
“We loved it. We were just (practicing) and we were just dribbling,” Thomas said about his experience playing on the court. “I’m just so happy and I was just so excited.”
Thomas was among a group of about 50 people with disabilities who joined the UIC Flames women’s basketball team as part of an event organized by the Beautiful Lives Project. The organization works to empower those with disabilities through sports and arts programming across the country.
Participants practiced with Flames players on skills like defense, passing, dribble work and form shooting.
The group of participants included those with learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Many were students attending schools in Chicago, including some adults in day programs, according to Bryce Weiler, co-founder of the Beautiful Lives Project.
This year marked the fourth year the organization partnered with the UIC Flames women’s basketball team for an event, according to Weiler. To kick off the event, head coach Ashleen Bracey gave a pep talk to participants by telling them about three rules: work hard, encourage each other and have fun.
Crystal Ortiz, a shooting guard and small forward for the UIC Flames women’s basketball team, said the events are nice because they give the team an opportunity to meet new people. “Everyone’s family on the court,” Ortiz said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are, we’re all together.”
Since 2017, the Beautiful Lives Project has hosted more than 200 events across the U.S.
Ashleen Bracey, head women’s basketball coach for the UIC Flames, speaks with participants at an event with the Beautiful Lives Project at the UIC Flames Athletic Center on Oct. 16, 2025. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Weiler, who is blind, said he hopes the events help eradicate barriers and stereotypes that people with disabilities face every day. The organization aims to fight isolation in the disabled community while highlighting the importance of including people with disabilities in the workforce.
“People who have disabilities want to be successful in their life,” Weiler said. “It just takes someone or multiple individuals being willing to give them opportunities to live their dreams, and that can start with one person.”
Weiler, based in Claremont, Illinois, said he was inspired to start the organization after he had an opportunity to sit on the men’s college basketball bench while attending the University of Evansville in Indiana.
“Through that opportunity, I wanted to help others with disabilities to be able to live their dreams in life,” said Weiler, who is also a sports radio broadcaster and disability consultant for companies and sports teams.
The Beautiful Lives Project has previously hosted events for other sports like football, baseball and tennis. Previous arts-related events have included painting, pottery and ballet. The organization recently hosted its first fashion show in Oak Brook, where participants who were blind modeled clothing they picked out through touch.
“I hope participants realize that they can do whatever they dream of doing in their life if they believe in themselves and that there are people out there who want to help them to live their dreams in life,” Weiler said.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
