LEOMINSTER — The scoreboard inside the Sky View Middle School was up and running on Thursday afternoon, but despite what the final score read, everyone walked off the court a winner.
The co-ed Unified middle school basketball teams from Sky View, Samoset and Ayer-Shirley Regional put on a display that made everyone in attendance stand up and cheer.
The three teams, along with Longsjo Middle School fromFitchburg and Pepperell’s Nissitissit Middle, are proof that every athlete deserves an opportunity to play.
Sarah Boucher is a physical education teacher at Sky View and also the Hawks’ Unified head coach.
“I’ve been involved the past couple of years and we have some of these kids in our inclusion classes as well. I think with this generation of sports, I think it’s nice to be an environment that’s not toxic. These kids don’t always have the opportunity outside of school or physical education class to be able to play in a sport that they love,” Boucher said following Thursday’s contest. “Being a part of this, I get to see it firsthand that these kids really love to play and to be a part of a team and build relationships with their teammates. It’s a great experience.”
On Tuesday, Sky View was slated to travel to Ayer-Shirley to take on the host Panthers, but the game was called off due to a power outage at the middle school. Ayer-Shirley Regional athletic director Steve Kendall arranged for the Panthers travel to Sky View on Thursday for their scheduled games.
“This is our fifth year at Ayer-Shirley doing this program and when we started, we were very small,” said Ayer-Shirley head coach Jackie Couture. “It’s become a part of our school culture and everybody wants to play or be a part of it.”
According to the Special Olympics Massachusetts website, Unified Sports brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. Originally founded in Massachusetts, Unified sports have become an important addition to Special Olympics internationally and has helped further its mission, by improving self-esteem, fostering acceptance and creating new friendships among its participants. Unified sports provide a valuable sports opportunity to individuals with intellectual disabilities who are not presently involved with Special Olympics, especially those with mild disabilities.
“This is fun. It’s a game changer for these kids. It’s giving these kids an opportunity to be out there playing on their own and having people cheer for them,” said Samoset head coach Bob Robuccio. “It’s an unbelievable experience for these kids and for us coaches.”
Games are broken into two halves with a running time. The clock is stopped several times throughout the half so that both teams can substitute new players into the game.
“I’m new to the ABA environment so that was a change for me. Working in the classroom, its nice to be around these kids having the chance to work with and get to know them,” said Sky View assistant coach Garrett Dellechiaie, an Applied Behavior Analysis Tutor at Sky View. “Everything about this is positive. These kids really enjoy themselves, being around the game and having their classmates and the community come out and support them is really important.”
Despite the season only being a few short weeks, the athletes involved give everything they have with the theme being sportsmanship, learning the game and having fun.
The five teams involved will travel to Nissitissit on Thursday afternoon for a season-ending jamboree.
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