UNIFIED SPORTS: CREATING LONG LASTING BONDS AND BUILDING A POSITIVE COMMUNITY

In November of 2010, Greenwich High School welcomed Unified Sports to their sport offerings. This sports team is open to all students of any abilities and focuses on supporting Greenwich High’s neurodiverse students. The goals of Unified Sports are to foster genuine friendships, support the growth of both social and physical skills, all the while promoting a sense of community at GHS where everyone belongs and is accepted for who they are.

The program has slowly grown over the years, but there’s been a noticeable jump in its popularity this year. Its current coach is Deirdre Burke, who also works as the Program Associate for Physical Education and as a Health & Safety teacher. As she explained in an interview, he’s always had a passion for working with people of unique abilities, and previously worked at a sports camp for kids that are blind and visually impaired, and volunteered with a program that taught people with different physical and mental abilities how to waterski. She shared that working with this population of pupils at Greenwich High is her passion. Burke loves the positive effect Unified Sports has on students, athletes, parents, teachers, and everyone else involved. It “brings out the best” in all people, according to Burke. 

During lunch on the game day, everyone in the student center noticed a wholesome scene of the Unified Sports team all eating together, both partners and athletes. Burke hopes to continue to have team lunches during every game day, and all partners are in the process of signing up to eat lunch with the athletes once in an eight day cycle. Burke believes that students with unique abilities are “a little ostracized” in the student center and she is hoping to create a more inclusive environment for everyone.

The partners and athletes alike have an amazing time being a part of Unified Sports. Hannah, a partner, shares that she loves the team because “everyone’s always upbeat and happy” and it’s “such a positive community”. Another partner, Ella, loves that they’re “making a community where everyone is accepted, involved, and have a fun time.” Other partners, like Charlotte and Ava, enjoy making lots of new and “genuine friendships”. Sydney stated how “seeing parents watching the games is so wholesome”. Athletes, such as George, love how “everyone’s nice”. Logan enjoys “being with friends”, and Andre shared how his favorite part is that “it’s fun to play sports.”

In the coming years, Burke hopes Unified Sports will become an even larger presence at Greenwich High, and she hopes this continues to create a more inclusive school environment where all students feel empowered by what makes them different and unique rather than feel discouraged. A more short term goal is to have more fundraising events to raise money for a formal banquet at the end of the year. Every GHS sports team gets to have a banquet at the end of their season, so Unified Sports should as well.

Unified Sports is a team with a full year season, so be sure to look out for ways to get involved with their upcoming basketball and track/field seasons (first home Unified basketball game is December 16th); having people come and support the team by watching their games is especially heartwarming!

Burke ended the interview with one final important reminder to everyone: “Not all disabilities are visible and we have to remember that there’s more than meets the eye. We have to be more patient and understanding with one another because we never know what a person is facing.”