Unified Sports: Fun and Games
Regardless of your age or ability or whether you have intellectual disabilities or not, you will have the time of your life playing on a Unified Sports team
One hot summer day, when I was 12 years old, a friend and I attended our first Special Olympics event. My cousin, a Special Olympics New Hampshire athlete, and my brother, a Unified Sports® partner, were playing in a weekend softball tournament. I honestly wasn't sure exactly what to expect. As fate would have it, the team ran into an unexpected problem when one of their Unified partners got sick and couldn't play. My brother asked me to take his place, and without hesitation, I did. That was more than 10 years ago, and I've been playing ever since.
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Special Olympics New Hampshire Unified partner Shannon McAloon (left) and her cousin, Sean Costello, at the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games. (Photo: Courtesy of Shannon McAloon) |
Unified Sports has literally changed my life. Unified Sports teams are composed of an equal mix of people with and without intellectual disabilities. From that first game, my involvement grew from competing in one sport to competing in five. I currently either play or coach softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer and athletics. Not all Special Olympics sports are Unified Sports, so I elected to become a coach so I could still volunteer. Special Olympics is my passion and a huge part of my life.
Most of my family is involved with Special Olympics: My cousin is an athlete; and in addition to being a Unified partner, my brother is a coach, as are my mother and aunt. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to get involved; it's become a very healthy addiction. Also, I have two very close friends who are Unified partners. Special Olympics has become a regular commitment to those closest to me.
When I mention my involvement with Special Olympics to casual friends or acquaintances, I occasionally find a lack of knowledge regarding the organization. Some people are flustered or bewildered when I say I am on a Special Olympics team and stop asking questions; others seem very intrigued and ask me a lot of questions?“What's it like? Are they good at basketball?” I try my best to explain, but the most straightforward answer is that it's like playing a game with five to 10 of the most cheerful, content, sportsmanlike individuals I've ever met, who have skill levels that surpass your expectations when they are given the chance.
During my many years of volunteering, I have encountered numerous people who simply don't know anyone with an intellectual disability. They are misinformed or simply unaware. I have heard many derogatory remarks and seen many dirty looks when people see individuals with intellectual disabilities. One of the most degrading remarks is the word “retarded.” This word has become part of mainstream culture and that disgusts me. I think at the very minimum, people should ask, “What do you mean by that?” If you challenge someone who makes a demeaning comment, hopefully it will make them think about what they said, if even for a split second. Moreover, if you're lucky, they'll respond, and it will open the door for a dialogue about people with intellectual disabilities. That's when you can help smother egregious stereotypes.
My local Special Olympics Program is in Merrimack. We have an exceptionally close knit Program and most of the same people play each sport, so we're all good friends as well as teammates. I look forward to our weekly practices because no matter how hard or stressful my week has been, my teammates make me smile just by showing they appreciate me being there.
Interacting with each other off the court/field has become a real bonding experience for our team. We go to college hockey games, Harlem Globetrotters games and Disney on Ice shows; hold barbecues; throw birthday parties, and more. Most importantly, it shows athletes that we want to spend time with them outside of sports and really care about them as people, not just Special Olympics athletes.
A few years ago, we asked the athletes if they would rather play “traditional basketball” (athletes only) or “Unified basketball,” and without any hesitation, the athletes voted for Unified basketball. One of the greatest benefits of Unified Sports is that it provides the chance to get to know people with whom you might otherwise never have made a connection. Getting to know people also debunks stereotypes — like the one I had about Special Olympics athletes: Their skill level. When I first started playing Unified softball, I would play easy and let the athletes steal the ball or get me out at first base. It didn't take long to learn these athletes are superstars, and if you, as a Unified partner or coach, show that you believe in them, they will perform at levels beyond your expectations.
I played softball for four years in college, and I was on many sports teams growing up. But I have never felt as strong a connection to any other activity or group as I do with Special Olympics. Unified Sports creates teams where no one is better than anyone else. It creates teams where regardless of the outcome, athletes and partners are still happy to be participating. It creates teams where no one gives up and everyone helps one another. It creates teams where athletes become my role models and, likewise, athletes look up to me as a role model. It creates the sort of teams that professional sports teams should mimic.
In 2005, I was honored to be selected as a member of the Special Olympics New Hampshire Unified Sports softball team to compete at the very first Special Olympics USA National Games in Iowa in 2006. A magnificent group of athletes and Unified partners, hailing from all parts of New Hampshire, got together and formed an immediate bond. This was an opportunity to meet other extraordinary people from across the state and hundreds of athletes from across the country. At those Games, I spent the best seven days of my life, competing and creating friendships in Iowa.
The thousands of Special Olympics athletes I have encountered through more than 10 years of volunteering have shown me that all people in the world deserve exactly the same amount of respect and that no one is better than anyone else. Special Olympics athletes are great teammates and embody an ideal of sports that includes compassion, hard work and most of all, the utmost sportsmanlike behavior — win or lose. At the very least, Unified Sports gives “mainstream” people the opportunity to understand and appreciate different types of people and make long-lasting friendships.
By Shannon McAloon
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