A Unified sports team is created with the purpose of bringing communities together – joining together people with disabilities and those without, giving both a chance that may not be presented to them otherwise. Introduced in the late 1980s, Unified Sports gained momentum in schools around 2008 through Project UNIFY.
Project UNIFY is a project led by the Special Olympics to foster acceptance and love throughout community for all people regardless of disabilities or not. Its main function is to bring together students in fun activities, like sports.
This year is the first year Oviedo has participated in a Unified sport, beginning with the Unified bowling team in the fall. Oviedo’s Unified basketball team has ten members. This is slightly less than the typical 12-15 players on most high school-level basketball teams, although only five players are allowed on the court at a time. Despite this difference, they make it work.
“Five athletes and five unified partners,” Todd Simmons, coach of the Unified Basketball team, said.
From when the team first received the roster, the team’s journey started quickly and they began flying through milestones.
“We decided to join through the Special Olympics,” Simmons said. “This is our first year doing it. We started in the summer, won the district, and ended in a regional tournament.”
For a team’s first year, winning a regional tournament is certainly a commendable achievement. The achievements don’t stop at the games either. The team has been making thunder throughout since the establishment of such a connecting factor for so many students.
Even though this is the first year Oviedo offered a unified basketball team, they have already shown drastic positive changes. The players’ confidence rose as they learned their talent for basketball.
“Just the growth of the team from start to finish…They had miraculous improvement being around the players,” Simmons said.
Off the court, the team spends time bonding with others, whether it be teammates or competitors.
“[My favorite part is] eating lunch with the other teams…and that we get to win,” senior Kalyn Trent, a unified player on the team said.
Beyond the scoreboard, this team has helped bring change to the culture at Oviedo. Students who may not have interacted with exceptional education students before are learning how to work together and celebrate each other’s success.
“[The team] taught me patience, empathy, and communication while building friendships with [people with] different abilities,” junior Piper Sisco said.
As the athletes share the court with their partners, Unified sports show that competition can exist alongside compassion. They have done an outstanding job at using teamwork, which is built on two things: understanding and respect.
