Teamwork Counts: Unified Sports bring students and Special Olympics athletes together
During most soccer games when the ball goes out of bounds, one can imagine the sound of profanities that ring through the air as players become discouraged or angry.
Defying this typical reaction is the Unified Sports intramural soccer team, who, after the ball went flying into a nearby cornfield, elicited an unexpected reaction — laughter.
Constant laughter and smiles were seen among all players in this new intramural league composed of Central Michigan University students and local Special Olympics athletes.
"This is really a lot of fun and it also gives me a bit of a challenge," said Special Olympics athlete Robert Doty. "I play for Special Olympics doing many sports and the area director asked me if I wanted to play — it's been great so far."
The league, formed this summer, is a collaboration between University Recreation and Special Olympics Michigan to bring together CMU students and Special Olympics athletes of all ages in the surrounding area.
According to the Director of Outreach and School Initiatives for SOMI, Dan Ekonen, their staff is excited about the creation of this league, as it has never been done before.
"The exciting part (about this league) is that there isn’t a model exactly like this anywhere so it’s one of the first of its kind and our CMU community is taking the lead," Ekonen said. "Once we spoke with our local Special Olympics program, it was just a matter of recruiting athletes and students and the response was amazing."
An assessment process was conducted to form four competitive, fair teams comprised of students and athletes of differing talents.
Team members are identified by jersey numbers, odd numbers given to students and even numbers given to SOMI athletes. From the sidelines, this is the only thing that will allow an audience member to tell the difference between team members, as the talent of both students and athletes is impressive.
Norway junior Chris Bourgeois said his participation in this league is part of a long list of experiences he's had with SOMI.
"I've participated in Special Olympics for a long time because my sister is handicapped," Bourgeois said. "I love it because it's really cool getting to be a part of something that's bigger than myself. Seeing the joy they get from playing on these teams is amazing."
The good nature and positivity the team emits has spread like wildfire, influencing even those that are not team members. Mount Clemens junior and UREC referee Sam Asman said she is one of many who have been positively impacted by this league.
"This is the most fun I've ever had officiating games," she said. "It's been really fun just to talk to all of the players and get to know them, they're all great people."
Various students were recruited from all majors and interests to participate in the league. According to Intramural Supervisor and Student Manager for URec, Brandon Szachta, those involved have become more than just teammates.
"From what I have observed supervising games, the CMU students, especially the volunteer coaches, act as mentors for the athletes," Szachta said. "They cheer their athletes on and make sure they are having a great experience. From the smiles on their faces, you can tell the students are making a positive impact on them."
Ekonen said many of the students who participate in the league come away from the experience with much more than they expected.
"The students do serve as mentors for some of our athletes, and the great thing about the league is that everyone is having fun and the students are getting as much out of this league as our athletes are," he said. "They really have become a team through this experience."
The league will complete their season on Nov. 13, when the four teams face off for the Unified Sports intramural championship.
But the fun won't end there.
SOMI is working to form another partnership in the spring, where students and athletes will have another chance to team up in a basketball league.
