By Haylie Bernacki
Visit most any college campus and, as you walk by tree-lined buildings or stand on fields where historic sports moments have occurred, you quickly get a sense of the school’s community and spirit. The atmosphere of pride, unity, and camaraderie draws alumni back year after year. Now, let’s imagine a campus atmosphere where a diverse group of students and community members are brought together by the power of recreational sports to achieve a common goal: build an inclusive and transformative environment for all. Through Special Olympics Unified Sports®, University Recreation at Central Michigan University has been able to do just that.
Dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences, Special Olympics Unified Sports brings people with and without intellectual disabilities together on the same team. The program is inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
At CMU, the Unified Sports Intramural teams are comprised of students and local Special Olympics athletes. These teams form IM leagues that run concurrently with the rest of CMU’s IM sports schedule. Unified Sports IMs have become an instant success at CMU, and are currently offered in six sports: flag football, outdoor soccer, bowling, basketball, volleyball, and kickball. “Establishing Unified IM sports is in my top three when thinking of experiences that have been most important and meaningful to me in my years working with UREC at CMU,” says Scott George, Assistant Director of Competitive Sports & Summer Camps, University Recreation at Central Michigan. Scott has been instrumental in the creation of Unified IMs at CMU; he was a part of the original planning meeting to discuss the potential establishment of Unified Sports on CMU’s campus.
Throughout the initial meeting with Special Olympics Michigan, Scott “realized we had these two populations in the area—Special Olympics athletes and CMU IM participants—who each enjoy the same recreational sport opportunities, and that there was a chance for UREC to connect these groups using sports. We realized that both groups would gain a life-changing experience.”
After the initial meeting, two student leaders, Ben Wrubel and Bradon Szachta, stepped up to take the lead with planning and executing the leagues. Ben also established the Special Olympics College student organization on campus, which focuses on building inclusive campuses, leveraging student leadership opportunities, and recruiting college students for Special Olympics Unified Sports. Through his experience with Unified IMs, Ben has learned the true “importance of inclusion,” and believes that “CMU students no longer just look at Special Olympics athletes as people with an intellectual disability, but as friends and peers first.”
Through Unified Sports, students have the opportunity to gain valuable life skills and new perspectives on the power of sports—they can learn there is more to sports than just winning or losing. They no longer view each other by labels like “Special Olympics athlete” or “CMU student.” Instead, they view each other as teammates and, more importantly, as friends. When they see each other in the community and at events on campus they say “hi,” share stories, and introduce each other to friends that may not be involved in the league.
This type of student evolution has led to greater student retention rates and a larger increase in new student IM participants. Scott has noticed that “Unified Sports has opened the world of UREC to students at CMU that have never played IM sports in the past.” In fact, among the frequent feedback he receives from students regarding their IM experience, he “continually receives 100% positive feedback on Unified IMs.” When students are on a level playing field with Special Olympics athletes, they see those athletes value as a member of the team and realize that they are all more alike than different.
Beyond the positive feedback received from student IM participants, Scott notes that Unified Sports has helped “unify the entire CMU campus.” During Unified IM championship nights, it is not uncommon to see multiple university departments, fraternities and sororities, varsity coaches and players, and other students come out to cheer on the teams and support the Unified movement.
The UREC staff and officials have also gained new leadership roles and volunteer experiences with Special Olympics off campus. Amanda Alpert, one of the graduate assistants who led the officials and helped coordinate the program, has since graduated and taken her experience to Ole Miss. She is currently the Coordinator of Intramural Sports and Sports Clubs there, and recently helped plan the first annual flag football Unified Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
While at CMU, Amanda witnessed the power Unified IM leagues have to “bring the community and campus together,” which is a “true display of the intended meaning of Intramural Sports.” Amanda has been able to take the valuable skills she gained while at CMU to transition into her new role at Ole Miss where she is “eager to bring the Unified IM opportunity to the Ole Miss campus and community” because she personally knows the “impact it has on all involved.”
Throughout the planning and execution of the Unified IMs, no one fully realized the powerful, life-changing impact the league would have on the Special Olympics athletes. Dan Ekonen, Director of Unified Sports Initiatives for Special Olympics Michigan, has seen a “major impact on the lives of Special Olympics athletes” involved in the program because they are more “open and willing to try new things because of their interactions and friendships with the CMU students.” The Unified IM leagues have provided an opportunity for post high school aged Special Olympics athletes to continue to engage and build friendships with peers their own age. This is critical as social isolation is often a leading contributor to physical, emotional, and intellectual regression in people with intellectual disabilities.
As CMU recreation staff and students continue to live out the NIRSA values of service, inclusion, and diversity, other schools across Michigan have followed their lead and have started Unified IM programs of their own. Eastern Michigan University just completed a Unified IM soccer league this fall with Oakland University, Grand Valley State University, and Michigan State all in the process of starting their own Unified Sports programs. As the excitement for Unified IMs across the state builds, Dan hopes that they will one day offer a “statewide extramural competition” to celebrate the abilities of all individuals. That is after all the “true essence of Unified Sports.”
To learn more about Special Olympics Unified Sports or to connect with a program near you, check out the Special Olympics’ Program Locator, visit the Unified Sports webpage, or contact Haylie Bernacki, Specialist, Unified Sports School & College Growth at Special Olympics.
