Unified Soccer

Today after school, I took 2 of my students to a Unified Soccer tournament. Unified sports is a branch off of Special Olympics. In Special Olympics all the athletes have special needs. In Unified sports you have athletes with special needs as well as athletes without (partners). They are paired up and participate as one team. The partners help the athletes pass the ball and direct them in the right direction. Partners can help to pass the ball, however they are not allowed to make goals.
Farmington's team is made up of two schools and have three levels within the team. My girls participate in Level 5 (the lowest group) while another one of my students participates in Level 4. Some of our team members also participate in Level 3. Level 3 & 4 play actual games. Level 5 athletes attempt to play and basically kick the ball around.
Everyone cheers for each other and athletes are just expected to try their best.
It was a great opportunity for the girls to be with their peers and try to participate. My girls were tired before they left school. So it was a challenge to get them to participate but the partners were amazing with them. The partners never looked back, they wiped runny noses, fended off pinching and scratching, assisted athletes to kick the soccer ball, cheered on the players all with amazing effort and always a smile.
After the event, we had subs, an awards ceremony (where everyone got a gold medal) and a bus ride back to the school. Students got picked up at 6:00pm. It was a long day but a great opportunity to see full inclusion in a sporting event.
In addition, NBC news was at the event. We should be on the news in a week on NBC 30 (for those in CT).