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"Play like a Girl" advocate makes a true name for herself

By Taylor Bond, NWBA, 08/25/17, 3:45PM CDT

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Josie Aslakson, originally from Jordan, Minnesota, but ventured south to attend the University of Texas at Arlington. She is currently a junior at UTA studying Film. She was one of the most recent selections from the Mavericks for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She was chosen alongside teammates Abby Dunkin and Morgan Wood.

Aslakson was paralyzed from the waist down at 5 years old when she was in a severe car accident. She saw the idea of being a normal and active girl slip from her grasp. She thought because she was in a wheelchair she would never be able to play sports. However, when she found the sport of wheelchair basketball all the negativity fled and she fell in love with the sport that has given her so much success.

Now she is an advocate not only for the sport and members of adaptive sports but for girls in sport. She is a part of the organization “Play Like a Girl.” It is an organization that empowers girls through sport and Aslakson is a spokesperson for the message they represent. She is featured in a TV spot that has been played in the North Texas metroplex.

“There’s a lot of things that can get your self-confidence down, especially as a girl, because you’re already insecure,” said Aslakson. “But you just can’t let anything like that stop you from doing what you want to do.”

She has been a great role model for the organization and for girls everywhere. She notes her only goal was to help other girls realize they can do anything they want if they set their mind to it. She has proven this true in no better fashion then making the 2017 U.S. Women’s National Team and playing in the America’s Qualifier, alongside U.S. Paralympians with her eyes now set on a Paralympic appearance for herself come 2020.