What is Unified Sport?
Special Olympics Unified Sports is an inclusive sport program that brings athletes with and without intellectual disabilities together for competition. In Unified Sports programs, there are a comparable number of athletes with and without intellectual disability on the court/field at the same time. The implementation of a Unified Sport program is meant to create an environment of ‘Meaningful Competition’ wherein coaches work together to create a balanced competitive environment so that athletes can focus on competing to the best of their ability against evenly matched opponents.
What are the Components of a Unified Sport Program?
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Special Olympics Athlete is an athlete with an intellectual disability. Ideally, the best Special Olympics athletes are students who show an interest in sport participation, are competitive, and enjoy playing on a team.
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Unified Sports Partner is an athlete without an intellectual disability. Ideally, the best partners are students who have an interest in sport participation, are competitive, enjoy playing on a team, and are able to compete on their school team (but not necessarily the best athlete in the school).
It is important to note that every athlete included on a Unified Sports team should have similar skill levels to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute to the team’s success.
Meaningful Competition is an important component of Unified Sport. Coaches are responsible for putting players of comparable skill together on a team and on the court/field in a game so that an evenly matched competition will allow opportunities for every team member to contribute to collective team objectives.
What is ‘Meaningful Competition’?
Meaningful Competition is a concept that addresses the need to create a balanced competitive environment. The actualization of this concept is reliant on coaches working together to field a team that is evenly and fairly matched against others. When coaches are focused on providing an opportunity for their athletes and opposing athletes to compete to the best of their abilities in a supportive and inclusive environment, competition becomes safe and meaningful for all participants.
Meaningful Competition is achieved when an environment has been created in which every athlete can:
- Demonstrate sufficient sport-specific skill and game understanding;
- Play a valued role on the team that emphasizes his/her talents, and;
- Has an opportunity to play without heightened risk of injury.
It is important for coaches to focus on team-wide engagement, participation, and support of one common competitive goal. Coaches need to be realistic, fair, and understanding when developing their unified team’s roster and when deciding which players will play together and against certain opponents. The concept of ‘coaching to win’ in Unified Sport is applied as ‘coaching to tie’ so that athletes can play to win; this is meant to minimize the chances of a blowout win or loss.
What are the Benefits of Unified Sport?
A competitive environment, in which athletes from different social backgrounds compete together, has the potential to bridge perceived and real social divides. Some research has noted that Unified Sports Partners have shown significant improvements in their attitude toward individuals with disabilities as a result of playing on a unified sports team. Other research has cited similar conclusions about Special Olympics Athletes and a heightened level of awareness of their peers without disabilities.
The important thing to remember is that in addition to the universally accepted personal benefits of involvement in sport and competition, Unified Sports provides social benefits for
both Special Olympics Athletes and Unified Sports Partners. Unified Sports offers athletes the opportunity to improve upon their sport-specific skills, gain valuable competition experience, make new friends, and gain a heightened awareness of the social existence of peers facing different obstacles.
What can Coaches do to Support Meaningful Competition?
It is the coaches’ responsibility to ensure that the athletes they select for their Unified team are:
- Of comparable skill level;
- Knowledgeable about the sport in which they are competing, and;
- Fully aware of the importance and components of working as part of a team.
As in any sport environment, a Unified Sport team must be a cohesive unit in which all members are supported, valued, and acknowledged for what they uniquely bring to the table. Meaningful Competition is achieved when coaches are able to:
- Create a competitive environment focused on giving every athlete the best possible chance to succeed;
- Work together to create fair and balanced teams and competitions, and;
- Focus on the experience of the athletes and not on ‘coaching to win’
Coaches simply need to be cognizant of the social and competitive environment that they support and how it influences the athletes under their care.
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