Salem Hills Places Second in Unified Sports State Soccer Championship
Salem Hills High’s Unified Sports placed First in Region and Second at the State Soccer Championship for Division 4. Congratulations on a job well done.
You may wonder what Unified Sports is in Utah? First of all, it is sanctioned by the Utah High School Athletics Association and a part of the Special Olympics Utah.
Utah’s First Lady, Abby Cox, supports this incredible opportunity and has an initiative to: “Show Up Utah!”
Miss America, Emma Broyles, and our own Miss Utah, Lindsey Larsen, were both in attendance at this Special Olympics competition on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. They both greeted the athletes and took time to visit and take photos with each team.
Most youth want to play some type of sport and sometimes the regular sports programs aren’t the best fit for some of the special needs athletes! Also, these athletes don’t always like being singled out. This is why Unified Sports is a great program! It allows these athletes and general athletes to play together with a modified layout. Salem Hills High took the opportunity to unite these athletes into a Unified Sports Team!
Unified Sports is an inclusive sports program that combines a proportionate number of Special Olympics Utah athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and partners
(individuals without intellectual disabilities) on teams for training and competition. The Unified Sports philosophy includes social inclusion (relationships created in sport, enhanced in inclusive school climate), meaningful involvement of all teammates, playing together, and respecting teammates and others on and off the field of play.
Unified Sports is one of the three components of Unified Champion Schools, a school-based program developed by Special Olympics with the support of the Department of Education to bring about positive change in our schools. Unified Champion Schools combine three main components: inclusive sports, youth leadership and advocacy, and whole-school engagement to activate young people to become leaders in their communities and create positive school climates based on inclusion, respect, and participation for all students.
“All students involved had a blast and can’t wait until next year to go for First Place! Our next Unified Sport to participate in is basketball and then track!” stated Coach Haylee Whiteley. “We give a big thanks to the Special Olympics of Utah for giving us the chance to be a part of something life-changing!”
Also, Coach Whiteley exclaimed, “I volunteered to be head coach because I love these kids and it brings me pure joy to see them grow, make memories, and excel in sports and their social lives! The rest of my team is paramount to that success including Jen Hughes and Brock and Kyra Peery! We couldn’t have done this without them!”
Congratulations to Kallie Christensen for answering this week’s “Where are we Wednesday?” challenge sponsored by Wiggy Wash.
#UtahUnifiedSports #Oneofus #SHHS #TheClimb #NeboHero #NeboSchoolDistrict #StudentSuccess #EmpowerStudents #EngageStudents #FocusOnStudents #LoveUTpublicSchools #UtPol #UtEd #ThankATeacher #LoveTeaching