Teamwork makes dream work: Trinity esports team provides teammate with adaptive controller
Dylan Owens, a ninth-grader on the Trinity High School esports team, already was a proficient Madden 25 player, despite playing with one hand.
But his coach and teammates wanted to make the Playstation 5 football game more accessible to him. So they recently crafted an adaptive controller that Owens, who only has use of his left hand, uses to compete alongside his peers.
Most gaming controllers are held with two hands and make use of both thumbs as well as both index and middle finders. With more than 10 buttons, along with directional pads and joysticks, using a gaming controller can be difficult or impossible for someone with limited hand mobility.
The custom controller features an attachment that fits over the regular controller and includes all the buttons on one side. As Owens pushes on a piece of plastic on one side, it corresponds to the button that would be on the right side of the controller.
“I’m getting the hang of it,” said Owens. “There are a lot less buttons on this. I don’t have to stretch my hand all the way over to hit all these buttons; I can just hit the buttons on this side and it will correspond with what I want to do.”
Head Coach Matt Christy said a standard controller requires a lot of dexterity, but Owens has compensated well: using one hand, he was able to stretch his hand over the entire controller. But Christy and assistant coach Justin Nader wanted to provide him with a more comfortable way to play.
They decided to look into adaptive controllers, but a controller made by Sony for Playstation “didn’t seem like it would fit his needs,” said Christy.
Then, he came across makersmakingchange.com, a website that provides free downloadable blueprints for assistive devices for people with disabilities. People can request a device or can volunteer to build one. More than 200 open-source designs are available, including a modified controller for Playstation 5.
Touchdown.
“It’s a great website, they’re doing really good things,” said Christy. “They put the (blueprints) online for absolutely nothing, so it’s making the technology affordable for anyone who needs it. We downloaded the files and we went downstairs the next day to our industrial technology teacher, Mrs. (Cally) Fleming, and asked her if she could print it for us using the school’s 3D printer, and she was more than happy to.”
It took about nine hours to produce the adaptive controller.
Owens’ mother, Brett Owens, was thrilled with the results.
“It’s been amazing for him,” said Brett Owens.
Playing on a team, against other competitors, has meant the world to Owens, his mom said.
“He’s meeting new friends, bonding with the coaches, it’s really great,” she said. “Sports is his niche, he loves sports. He’s been playing video games since he’s been 4 or 5 years old and he’s never let anything stop him. Only having one arm has never slowed him down. And I wouldn’t let him. He figures out a way.”
Doctors told Brett when she was 16 weeks pregnant that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Owens’ arm, resulting in a range of defects in his upper body, including his liver developing in his chest and a deformed right arm. He was given a 10% chance to live and had a tracheostomy attached to a ventilator for three years.
“He’s a miracle,” she said.
Owens is a sports fan (“I love football, especially the Steelers … I watch too much,” he confessed), and along with playing sports video games he enjoys fantasy sports and plays in several leagues.
His mother said when Owens was little, he used his toes and feet to help maneuver his video game console’s controller.
He’s working to get better at Madden 25, which he’s been playing daily since it was released this summer.
“Once it came out, I started playing it as much as I could, just for practice. I’ve got to work on defense,” said Owens. “This game is phenomenal.”
Since Owens started using the adaptive controller, other esports teams have approached Christy about getting similar controllers.
Brett Owens said she appreciates Trinity’s efforts to level the playing field for her son.
“It made my son feel special, it made me feel special. I thought it was an amazing gesture,” said Brett Owens. “The teachers and students have done everything they can to help him and support him, which is fabulous. I’m happy with the outcome, knowing that it is going to help Dylan play a game he loves to play.”