Unified Sports basketball shoots for inclusivity
On March 28, dozens of students filled the stands. The cheers emanating from the gym could be heard across campus, marking the start of the Unified Sports basketball game against Thousand Oaks High School. The game ultimately ended in a tie, but both Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks athletes argue they put up a good fight.
Growing up around the Unified Sports program her whole life, Samantha Stewart, known around campus as Coach Sammi, has stepped up to the role of liaison for the Unified Sports program. Before becoming the adapted physical education teacher at NPHS, Coach Sammi created a Unified team at her son’s school in Arizona. “We had a bowling team, and we actually got to go to Nationals [in Vegas], which was really cool,” Coach Sammi said. After moving to California, Coach Sammi got a team running in Santa Barbara and then settled in Conejo Valley where she has been advising Unified Sports for seven years now.
Senior Leo Hutson has been creating memories with the Unified Sports program for four years now. His favorite sport to play is basketball, especially when the games are at NPHS. “I just like passing it to all my teammates,” Hutson said. Through both the Unified Sports Club meetings and events, Hudson has been able to make many friends and unforgettable memories. “My favorite memory from Unified is probably just getting to socialize and interact with my friends,” Hudson said. While reminiscing on the memories created in the Unified program, Hudson reflected on the impact and positives of coming together for Unified Sports. “My favorite part, I would say, is kids with and without disabilities, come together and play sports,” Hutson said.
Ever since Coach Sammi started the program at NPHS, the club has grown, and earned NPHS the title of being a “Unified Champion School.” “To earn that prestige you have to meet three different areas, your inclusion, your whole school engagement and inclusive leadership,” Coach Sammi said. The key components of earning this recognition shine through during both games and weekly club meetings. Coach Sammi encourages all students to check out the Unified meetings, where an environment of inclusion can be found, along with playing sports and building friendships. Additionally, students can learn more about life with disabilities. “It’s a different life than people without disabilities. And so to be able to get in experience and learn, we’re actually really similar, [we just] learn differently, or we need more support,” Coach Sammi said.
Having only joined Unified this school year, Zoe Maturo, junior, wanted to make herself and the school community a better place. During the basketball game Maturo helped the athletes on the court have an overall fun experience. “When we get to play against different schools it’s really fun because we get to see people that we don’t get to see every week and really show off the skills that we’ve been practicing during our weekly club meetings,” Maturo said. Each Wednesday, Unified Sports hosts a meeting to prepare for the upcoming games by practicing and building connections. “We get to play sports, and I think it’s a great way to build a community that includes all and excludes none,” Maturo said.
Despite the basketball game being an annual tradition, this year was special in that it was the senior recognition game for over 40 athletes and their partners. “This is the biggest class of athletes graduating. So it was kind of bittersweet,” Coach Sammi said.
