"Dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences, Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding."
Last year, Principal Steve Woodward requested that the School Board add Unified Basketball to the list of sports available for our students. The Board agreed and this is the first year of a great opportunity for all of our students. Earlier this year, Coach Bill Hayes and two students attended a training session on what a Unified team should look like and how the program is run. These two students, Isaac Whitten and Dan Burgess, now play on Raymond's first Unified Basketball team.
Why was this one of the best high school games I have ever seen? This is a game where it is "OK" to make mistakes- there is no catcalling or poor sportsmanship. It is a fun time- people cheer, kids make great plays, and yes, there are some mistakes. The difference is that it is just plain fun to watch students more excited about playing than winning.
We all want to belong- no matter what our circumstances. Everyone knows how hard high school can be- especially socially Anytime we can help students, no matter their circumstances, actually be socially accepted and included we help eliminate meanness and bullying.
For many years, I was a volunteer at Special Olympic Events- Over the years, I brought dozens of students to the Olympic Games with me. Every year, previous students would ask to go again because they had "caught" the excitement and fun, too.
If you are looking for a fun, entertaining event, join us at the next home game on January 29 at 3:30 in the high school gym. The entire schedule can be found under Athletic Schedule at http://www.sau33.com/RaymondHigh.cfm?subpage=817691
For more information on Unified Sports go to:
http://www.specialolympics.org/unified-sports.aspx
