Jack Wilson, Yusuf Dathe, and Ellie Buchanan at Unified soccer practice
Throughout the winter, over 40 students convene in the gym on a bi-weekly basis for Unified basketball practice, where players (athletes with disabilities) and partners (athletes without) play on the same team.
A ‘Unified’ sport refers to a team where students with and without intellectual and physical disabilities play on the same team. The Special Olympics Unified Sports league has over 1.6 million participants worldwide, all working toward its goal of breaking stereotypes surrounding individuals with disabilities.
At Roosevelt High School, there are two Unified teams: basketball and soccer. Unified basketball competes during the winter season, while Unified soccer practices during the spring.
Both Unified teams are no-cut, so everyone gets a chance to play if they want to. Additionally, some players choose to just practice with the team but not play in games.
Roosevelt Special Education Teacher Tom Ledcke says, “We have had some kids who are deaf and hard of hearing who were amazing players. We have had kids who are blind, and they are guided along the field to kick that ball into the net, or to throw the ball as high as they can. We have kids in wheelchairs, and they kick the ball down the court.”
Ledcke says, “It’s phenomenal to see, and I don’t bring it up to anybody. It’s you guys that instigate all this, this behavior.”
Sophomore Sam Nelson says, “Unified is about supporting your friends, being part of your team.” Nelson played on the Unified basketball team last year and the Unified soccer team this year. He also is on the swim team. “You get to participate in Unified and try the sport. If you like it, you can keep doing it with your friends.” Nelson says.
During Unified basketball practice, players with disabilities are paired with players without disabilities in a ‘buddy system.’ They stay in their partnerships for the duration of a week. Senior Joey Vila, a coach for the Unified basketball team, says, “The goal of that is to grow the relationship between the partner and the player.”
Vila says the inclusivity fostered in Unified practices isn’t limited to the gym. “The stuff that happens outside of Unified is even more fun, like it creates so much conversation with the partners and the athletes,” he says.
Ledcke says it wasn’t always this way. “When we started there really wasn’t that kind of inclusiveness or understanding of kids’ special needs,” he states. Ledcke goes on to describe the growth that came with participation in Unified saying, “they were here, peers were over there and Unified just brought everybody together.”
Junior Gabbi Smith, a Unified partner, says she “feels like people who have disabilities are often isolated.”
Ledcke agrees, saying, “There are way too many kids that are sitting alone, Gen. Ed. and Special Ed., during lunch.”
Yet Unified sports and communities have done a lot to combat this. Smith says she’s enjoyed building friendships with people she wouldn’t have met if she didn’t participate in Unified sports.
Further, not only is the team promoting inclusivity, but they are also bringing home wins. In 2019, the Roosevelt Unified basketball team dominated the court and won State. Last season, they placed 2nd in Districts and would have gone on to State, but it was canceled due to concerns about COVID-19.
Following their 2019 win, Ledcke said there were plans for a parade that ultimately got canceled as the world flipped when COVID first hit.
Despite this unlucky circumstance, Ledcke made it clear that it was the students at Roosevelt who have created this positive environment. “What’s impressive is the peers that got involved. They have all been exemplary all through the years as phenomenal people.”
As Roosevelt’s Unified program continues to thrive, there is hope in the future of building a more inclusive atmosphere at Roosevelt. Ultimately, Ledcke says, “I think we are on a good path.”
