The unifying power of sports.
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Sometimes, in the sports media and the world of sports, we spend so much time focused on the divisive and the bad that we pass right on by the good, without even stopping to notice.
We want to pause to highlight The Special Olympics’ Unified Sports program, which it markets through a great social media campaign called #PlayUnified (Tagline: “Changing the world is a contact sport.”) The goal is to connect people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team to play sports. The outcome is that by accepting each other in sports, we accept each other outside of the game.
Recently, in the wake of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Special Olympics Massachusetts held the first ever Play Unified dunk contest during a Unified Sports League Tournament. Special Olympics athletes and high school players from Brooks School in North Andover, MA to participated together.
From The Special Olympics:
Special Olympics Unified Sports promotes social inclusion through shared sport training and competition experiences for individuals with and without intellectual disabilities. Unified Sports has proven to be highly effective in achieving social inclusion. Athletes feel a sense of belonging; they can meaningfully interact with others, develop mutually rewarding relationships, are recognized as contributors and are received with acceptance and respect.
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Photo—soteamusa/Flickr