Twelve champion teams who won their regional championship attended the 2019 Unified Sports Indoor Bocce Championship after winning in their region. Each team represented their high schools unified bocce team, where students with and without intellectual disabilities train and compete on the same team. Twelve different high schools from twelve different counties were represented:
This was the fifth year that Special Olympics PA held the Unified Sports Indoor Bocce Championship in conjunction with the PIAA Boy’s and Girl’s state basketball championship. Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia sent a team from Parkway West, who had two teams win the competitive division. After an in-school face-off, Parkway West sent their first team to represent Philadelphia and their school. On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, Parkway West’s first team left in the early morning to head out to Northern High School in Dillsburg, PA for qualifying rounds. Only eight teams would advance to the finals the next day at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA prior to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Boy’s and Girl’s state basketball championships. The Championship took place from 8:30 am – 11:00 am; and, awards were presented during halftime of the PIAA Basketball game from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
At the qualifying rounds, each team played two matches and after the round-robin style play, the top eight advanced to the championship rounds. Parkway West was excited to be there and compete at the state level. For most of the team, it was their first sporting experience outside of the City of Brotherly Love. All of the students were soaking in the experience and staying true to how they got there – by working together and focusing on having fun. Between each set, one of the assistant coaches high-fived each player to keep them going from their early morning wake-up. At the end of the day, Parkway West ended up losing both of their matches, so they would not continue on to the Championship round the next day. Although they lost, both games were close and they were very proud of themselves for coming out of the strongest bracket in their region.
Congratulations to Bald Eagle Area High School from Centre County who were the state champions.
Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Unified Champion Schools program is aimed at promoting social inclusion through intentionally planned and implemented activities affecting systems-wide change. With sports as the foundation, Unified Champion Schools follow a three-component model: Interscholastic Unified Sports, Youth Leadership and Advocacy, and Whole School Engagement. Interscholastic Unified Sports is a fully-inclusive co-ed high school sports program that brings together a proportional number of students with and without disabilities on teams for training and competition. Whereas, youth leadership, advocacy, and whole-school engagement promote school climates where students with disabilities feel welcome and are routinely included in, and feel a part of, all activities, opportunities, and functions.
Unified Sports® is the one Special Olympics program that helps schools fulfill the requirements of the Department of Education guidance letter reminding schools of the federal law (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) protecting the rights of all students with disabilities to have equal access to athletic activities.
2018 IUS Soccer Season consisted of four league play days at various high schools to prepare students for the championship in late May. Ten high schools participated in this years soccer season. Schools included
AUD- Audenreid (lt blue), FRNK- Frankford (red), GW- George Washington (blue, navy), SAY – Sayre High School (white), TE- Thomas Edison (green)
AL- Abraham Lincoln, FURN- Furness, KHSA- Kensington Health Sciences, MLK- Martin Luther King, SOF- School of the Future
The Philadelphia IUS Soccer Championship is on Wednesday, May 30th at George Washington High School.
Abraham Lincoln High School hosted the first league play day after the original date was postponed due to snow. The first League Play Day was held on Wednesday, March 28th, it was a little chilly, but the sky was clear and the ground was free from snow. Lincoln High School welcomed Furness High School, Kensington Health Sciences High School, Martin Luther King High School, and School of the Future. As teams arrived, Lincolns students were ready to welcome them to their school with high-fives and warm greetings. Besides competition, every team got to participate in training – regardless if they played in the player development model or competitive model.
|
Field 1 |
Field 2 |
Field 3 |
Round 1 |
SOF 1 (2) v AL 1 (4) |
MLK 2 (2) v AL 2 (2) |
FURN 2 (0) v KHSA 1 (5) |
Round 2 |
|
FURN 1 (2) v AL 2 (0) |
KHSA 2 (4) v SOF 2 (1) |
Round 3 |
MLK 1 (2) v SOF 1 (1) |
KHSA 1 (5) v MLK 2 (0) |
SOF 2 (1) v FURN 2 (0) |
Round 4 |
AL 1 (2) v MLK 1 (2) |
KHSA 2 (3) v FURN 1 (4) |
|
AL- Abraham Lincoln, FURN- Furness, KHSA- Kensington Health Sciences, MLK- Martin Luther King, SOF- School of the Future
After rescheduling due to weather, the second IUS Soccer league play day turned out to be the perfect day for soccer. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze in the air. Frankford High School hosted Audenreid Charter, Geroge Washington High School, Sayre High School and Thomas Edison High School. Athletes, partners, coaches, and volunteers alike were excited to get the day started as the schools participating in this league play day were anxious to get their season started. To kick things off, Frankford High School Color Guard presented the colors as the national anthem was played over the loudspeaker. After the colors were presented, a few quick announcements were made and Frankford’s mascot even stopped by to say hello to the teams and support the home team. Like the first league play day, players participated in player development or competitive model training.
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Field 1 |
Field 2 |
Field 3 |
Round 1 |
AUD 1 (1) v GW 1 |
TE 1 (1) v FRNK 1 (0) |
SAY 1 (3) v TE 2 (0) |
Round 2 |
|
SAY 2 (3) v GW 2 (1) |
AUD 2 (3) v FRNK 2 (0) |
Round 3 |
AUD 1 (2) v FRNK 1 (1) |
SAY 1 (2) v GW 2 (1) |
TE 2 ( 1) v AUD 2 (2) |
Round 4 |
GW 1 (1) v TE 1 (0) |
FRNK 2 (2) v SAY 2 (5) |
AUD- Audenreid (lt blue), FRNK- Frankford (red), GW- George Washington (blue, navy), SAY – Sayre High School (white), TE- Thomas Edison (green)
Thomas Edison High School hosted Abraham Lincoln, Frankford High School, George Washington High School, and Kensington Health Sciences on Tuesday, April 24th. It was the perfect day to be outside, especially after the first two league play days were postponed due to snow. The sun was shining, and along Edison’s track was a tree in bloom where it snowed petals. Everyone much preferred this “snow” to the earlier snowstorm in the season. After everyone arrived, Thomas Edison’s Junior ROTC, led by Cadet Bullock, presented the colors and Cadet Vega sang the National Anthem.
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Field 1 |
Field 2 |
Round 1 |
TE 1 (0) v GW 1 (5) |
FRNK 2 (1) v GW 2 (4) |
Round 2 |
KHSA 2 v TE 2 |
KHSA 1 v FRNK 2 |
Round 3 |
GW 1 v FRNK 1 |
KHSA 2 v GW 2 |
Round 4 |
FRNK 1 v TE 1 |
TE 2 v KHSA 1 |
School of the Future hosted the last League Play Day on April 26th. Although the weather wasn’t as warm as the third league play day, it was just as sunny with a breeze keeping steady throughout the day. Audenried, Furness High School, Martin Luther King High School, and Sayre High School joined School of the Future to round out the last of the league play days. To welcome the other schools, School of the Future had their drum line out and they were ready to pump up the athletes and partners as they prepared for their games.
|
Field 1 Competitive |
Field 2 Player Dev. |
Field 3 Player Dev. |
Round 1 |
AUD 1 v SOF 1 |
AUD 2 (1) v MLK 2 (1) |
FURN 1 v SAY 1 |
Round 2 |
SOF 1 v MLK 1 |
SAY 2 v SOF 2 |
MLK 2 v FURN 2 |
Round 3 |
MLK 1 v AUD 1 |
SAY 1 v AUD 2 |
SOF 2 v FURN 1 |
Round 4 |
|
FURN 2 v SAY 2 |
|
AUD- Audenried (light blue), FURN- Furness (orange), MLK- Martin Luther King (purple), SAY- Sayre (white), SOF- School of the Future (grey)
The 2018 Philadelphia IUS Bocce Championship was held on Tuesday, January 23rd at Northeast High School. This year, Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia welcomed the most schools and teams to ever participate in the Bocce Championship – a total of 11 schools with 22 teams playing.
After weeks of training and competing in two league-play days, schools arrived with hopes of advancing to Hershey, PA for the IUS State Bocce Championships on March 22nd and 23rd. Schools in attendance included Abraham Lincoln High School, High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, George Washington High School, Hill-Freedman High School, Kensington High School, Northeast High School, Parkway West High School, School of the Future, South Philadelphia High School, Strawberry Mansion, and Thomas Edison High School.
As schools arrived to Northeast High School, they were welcomed by Northeast High School’s band and mascot, the Viking. Northeast’s band stuck around for Opening Ceremonies to play the national anthem, while the Viking stuck around to root on Northeast and the other teams as the competed. During the competition, we saw play across all schools that has been the best it has ever been.
We want to thank the Knights of Columbus for volunteering with us all season, including the championship and League 91 for volunteering and providing awesome volunteer shirts for our championship. A huge thank you to all of the teachers and staff from all of our schools who do work so incredibly hard with our athletes and partners in training and during games, and assisting with each of the trips to provide opportunities for inclusion. Thank you!
Congratulations to Hill-Freedman Team 2 and George Washington Team 2 for advancing to Hershey!
DIVISION NAME |
BLUE A (BA) |
BLUE B (BB) |
RED A (RA) |
RED A/B |
RED B (RB) |
GRN A (GA) |
GRN A/B |
GRN B (GB) |
ROUND 1 |
SOF1 (8) v PW1 (4) |
GW2 (12) v AL2 (2) |
SOF2 (7) v KEN1 (4) |
TE1 (0) v NE1 (8) |
GW1 (10) v CAPA1 (3) |
HF2 (8) v SP 1 (2) |
TE2 (4) v SM1 (1) |
AL1 (5) v CAPA2 (3) |
ROUND 2 |
PW 1 (6) v HF 1 (4) |
AL2 (5) v KEN 2 (7) |
KEN 1 (6) v NE 1 (4) |
NE 2 (5) v GW 1 (3) |
CAPA1 (5) v PW2 (6) |
SP1 (8) v SM1 (2) |
SP2 (1) v AL1 (4) |
CAPA2 (1) v SM2 (6) |
ROUND 3 |
HF1 (4) v SOF1 (5) |
KEN2 (4) v GW2 (6) |
TE1 (2) v KEN1 (8) |
NE1 (2) v SOF2 (11) |
PW2 (2) v NE2 (3) |
TE2 (3) v SP1 (4) |
SM1 (4) v HF2 (5) |
SM2 (6) v SP2 (4) |
ROUND 4 |
BLUE 3rd/4th |
BLUE 5th/6th |
SOF2 (7) v TE1 (5) |
PW2 (0) v GW1 (9) |
CAPA1 (2) v NE2 (9) |
HF2 (11) v TE2 (4) |
AL1 (2) v SM2 (9) |
CAPA2 (3) v SP2 (5) |
|
2nd BA v 2nd BB |
3rd BA v 3rd BB |
||||||
|
PW1 (8) v KEN2 (2) |
HF1 (7) v AL2 (5) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ROUND 5 |
|
BLUE FINAL |
RED FINAL |
RED 3rd/4th |
RED 5th/6th |
GRN FINAL |
GRN 3rd/4th |
GRN 5th/6th |
|
Winner BA v Winner BB |
Winner RA v Winner RB |
2nd RA v 2nd RB |
3rd RA v 3rd RB |
Winner GA v Winner GB |
2nd GA v 2nd GB |
3rd GA v. 3rd Grn B |
|
|
SOF1 (0) v GW2 (12) |
SOF2 (12) v NE2 (3) |
NE1 (0) v PW2 (18) |
KEN1 (5) v GW1 (6) |
HF2 (5) v SM2 (2) |
TE2 (4) v SP2 (3) |
SP1 (3) v AL1 (9) |
Place |
Blue Division |
Red Division |
Green Division |
1st |
George Washington 2 | School of the Future 2 | Hill-Freedman 2 |
2nd |
School of the Future 1 | Northeast 2 | Strawberry Mansion 2 |
3rd |
Parkway West 1 | George Washington 1 | Abraham Lincoln 1 |
4th |
Kensington 2 | Kensington 1 | South Philadlephia 1 |
5th |
Hill-Freedman 1 | Parkway West 2 | Thomas Edison 2 |
6th |
Lincoln 2 | Northeast 1 | CASouth Philadelphia 2 |
7th |
CAPA 1 | CAPA 2 | |
8th |
Thomas Edison 1 | Strawberry Mansion 1 |
Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia held the 2017 Fall Unified Youth Summit on Tuesday, October 17th at Dave & Busters in Philadelphia Mills mall. Over 100 students attended from local high school to prepare for the upcoming school year. Participating schools included Abraham Lincoln High School, Audenreid Charter, CAPA, Frankford High School, Furness High School, George Washington High School, Kensington High School, Martin Luther King High School, Parkway West High School, School of the Future, and Thomas Edison High School. The vision of the 2017 Fall Unified Youth Summit is to inspire and motivate all attendees to create a more inclusive school community through Unified Clubs and effective, creative Whole School Engagements.
The day started with welcoming remarks from Alex Christy, Manager of Interscholastic Partnerships, Bettyann Creighton, Executive Director of Health, Safety, Nutrition and Physical Education, and Matt Aaron, President & CEO of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. After welcoming remarks, our students let loose by socializing through bowling. While bowling, students were prompted into conversation with a list of questions that would assist them in preparing for the afternoon’s workshops. Bowling wrapped up with lunch and final discussion points. After lunch, the schools were split into two groups to work on how to strengthen their school climate. One session was how to run a successful Unified Club where students discussed what they were doing well and what they could improve in their school and how their Unified Club could plan activities that would improve their school climate. The second session was how to work with individuals and groups successfully. Students took a quick quiz that let them know what their communication style was. Afterward, like-styled students were grouped together and groups practiced the best way to work with each of the other groups in the room.
To view all of our photos, please visit our Facebook Album
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, SOPA Philly hosted a Unified Bocce Demonstration at the School District of Philadelphia Head Quarters (440) in the atrium for all to see! The two winning teams from our Philadelphia Unified Bocce Championship championship that did not advance to Hershey – a team from Thomas Edison and another from George Washington, along with a team from Kensington HS joined us at 440 to take part in this fun day.
There was a small program prior to the demonstration where a partner from the George Washington team who played in Hershey addressed the crowd and shared their experience in Hershey, and then two athletes from Edison.
The Edison and George Washington teams played off against one another to demonstrate a skilled game and teammates from Kensington played alongside administrative personnel from within the school building who came down to experience the magic of Unified firsthand. Not only did administrative personnel come down to play, there was a crowd watching the showcase, including from the balconies above.
It was a hot and sunny day as 9 schools converged at Abraham Lincoln for the 2016 Unified Soccer Championship. Universal Audenried Charter, Frankford, Furness, George Washington, High School of the Future, Martin Luther King, Sayre, and Thomas Edison joined host Abraham Lincoln for the culminating event of the year. Clara Barton Elementary, Universal Daroff Elementary, Solis-Cohen Elementary School, and Tilden Middle School also made the journey to Lincoln to cheer on the high school students.
The Unified Soccer Championship kicked off with Matt Cord, Philadelphia 76ers and 93.3 WMMR, leading Opening Ceremonies. Abraham Lincoln’s Junior ROTC presented the colors as a group from the Lincoln Choir sang the National Anthem. President and CEO of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, Matthew Aaron and Director of Special Olympics Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Britt Kleine, gave brief remarks and wished the athletes luck. Bettyann Creighton, Directorof Health, Safety and Physical Education, gave remarks as well as thanked the teachers turned coaches for their efforts throughout the year and wished their teams the best.
We would like to thank the School District of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools for your amazing partnership and bringing inclusion and opportunity into our Philadelphia schools. We would like to recognize our sponsors who made this event a success: Drexel University’s Eat Right, Philadelphia Union, phl17, Sambulance Safety Squad, and Shop Rite. We also could not do it without our volunteers who took time out of their day to support a growing movement. Thank you to the Finish Line, Knights of Columbus, Sons of Ben for helping us #LiveUnified.
Field 1 |
Field 2 |
field 3 |
field 4 |
field 5 |
field 6 |
|
Round 1 |
AL 1 (2) v SOF 1 (0) | SOF 2 (0) v MLK 1 (2) | TE 2 (1) v AUD 2 (1) | FURN 1 (3) v FRNK 2 (0) | SAY 2 (0) v MLK 2 (0) | GW 1 (1) v SAY 1 (0) |
Round 2 |
SOF 1 (1) v AUD 1 (4) | MLK 1 (5) v TE 1 (1) | AUD 2 (0) v FURN 2 (1) | FRNK 2 (1) v GW 2 (3) | MLK 2 (1) v FRNK 1 (1) | SAY 1 (2) v AL 2 (0) |
Round 3 |
AUD 1 (1) v AL 1 (6) | TE 1 (3) v SOF 2 (0) | FURN 2 (1) v TE 2 (0) | GW 2 (2) v FURN 1 (1) | FRNK 1 (1) v SAY 2 (1) | AL 2 (0) v GW 1 (1) |
Audenried 2 v Furness 1, Audenreid 1 v Thomas Edison 1, Martin Luther King 2 v Sayer 1
Furness 2 v George Washington 2, Abraham Lincoln 1 v Martin Luther King 1, Frankford 1 v George Washington 1
BLUE DIVISION
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GREEN DIVISION
|
RED DIVISION
|
June 9, 2016: Kristen Hatfield for PHL17: SOPA Philly celebrates the Fourth Annual Unified Soccer Championship
The first Philly Plunge makes a big splash! The plunge took place on Friday, December 4, 2015 outside of Drexel University’s Fitness Plaza in University City Philadelphia. A total of four plunges were held on this day including a Cool Schools Plunge, for high schools participating in Special Olympics PA’s Interscholastic Unified Sports (10:00am-12:00pm), a Business Plunge for business executives (12:00pm to 2:00pm), a General Public (5:00pm – 7:00pm), and a University Plunge for individuals affiliated with a college or university (7:00pm to 9:00pm). The inaugural Philadelphia Plunge hosted more than 300 plungers and raised more than $60,000.
Each group brought an extraordinary amount of energy with them to the plunge. It was hard to miss this outside event as the plunges started. If you were walking by Drexel’s Fitness Plaza, you would hear cheering and screams from participants as they popped up from under the chilly waters. Participants and spectators alike took to cheering on plungers as one-by-one they did a cannonball, a screwdriver, or just plain jumped in. As plungers came out of the pool, they were chilly, yet eager to watch other plungers take the cold jump.
Our Cool Schools Plunge hosted 5 schools who participate in our Interscholastic Unified Sports program along with staff from the School District of Philadelphia show their support in this chilly event. Our Business Plunge was emceed by comedian Joe Conklin who entertained our executive participants during their luncheon with special guest appearance by Former Philadelphia Eagles Coach, Dick Vermeil. The University Plunge got a special treat with Drexel University’s Head Basketball Coach, Bruiser Flint making remarks prior to students and staff members affiliated with a university taking the plunge.
During the Plunge, plungers warmed up by participating in a Unified Sports Experience, playing recreational bocce and/or volleyball with Special Olympics athletes. While waiting to plunge, participants also had the opportunity to snap pictures at the plunge photo booth and take photos with the official Philadelphia Plunge Polar Bear, “Chilladelphia.” For pictures, click the Plunge you are looking for: Cool Schools Plunge, Business Plunge, General Plunge, University Plunge
Huge thank you to all of our sponsors and partners, participants, volunteers and staff members who made this inaugural Philadelphia Polar Plunge a great success. We look forward to having a bigger and better #PhillyPlunge next year!
The Unified Youth Summit starts school year on right track! Seven schools within the Philadelphia School District sent their youth leaders to attend our Unified Youth Summit as part of our Interscholastic Unified Sports (IUS) program. The day started off with Britt Kleine, Director of Special Olympics Philadelphia, welcoming all of the students, coaches and school staff. Jordan Schubert, Special Olympics Chester County athlete and Special Olympics Pennsylvania staff member, was the Keynote Speaker. Jordan shared his journey through high school and college and how Special Olympics and the Unified movement impacted his life. After an inspirational keynote address, it was time to educate our student leaders on how they too could start their Special Olympics journey like Jordan.
Our student leaders were excited to learn about the various components of the program (Unified Sports, Unified Youth Committee, and Whole School Engagement) and a new initiative Special Olympics Philadelphia is launching to help them with their Whole School Engagement – the Cool Schools Challenge as part of our inaugural Philadelphia Polar Plunge! After a brief presentation, students broke out by school to discuss how to engage students in their respective school, how to run meetings and decide on ideas to run with. After each breakout session, a representative from each school reported out to all of the student leaders.
The Summit ended with by our student leaders taking a pledge to be the agents of change within their schools and pledging to Plunge at the Cool Schools portion of the Philadelphia Plunge to show the public that they support for inclusion and respect. Before everyone left, we took a group picture and individual school pictures with the Philadelphia Polar Plunge mascot, whose name was announced earlier during the Summit! The students loved taking pictures with the newly named mascot, Chilladelphia!
Schools who attend the Unified Youth Summit include:
Special Olympics Project UNIFY is an education-based project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education that uses the sports and education programs of Special Olympics to activate young people across the U.S in order to promote school communities where all young people are agents of change – fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics believes that through sports young people can make a difference in friendships, schools and communities.
Project UNIFY initiatives include a host of core activities, both on the national and the grass-roots level. Local projects that meet Project UNIFY objectives are supported through a funding process for U.S. Special Olympics Programs.
Special Olympics Project UNIFY incorporates sports and related activities, however, in this new way of operating (youth-centered, school focused) there is an enhancement in current programs and paradigms from a focus on events to committing to a movement advocating for youth as change agents now and in the future. To learn more, click here.
The 2015 Interscholastic Unified Sports Youth Summit on June 10, 2015 was a huge success! Athletes and partners represented a few of our IUS Philadelphia schools, and they all did a great job. Many things were discussed during the day, and the athletes and partners had talks about what they enjoyed about the IUS program, as well as what can be added to make the program run smoother. Both the athletes and partners had fun while participating in the program, and they also made lifelong friends in the process.
They started the day by listening to two guest speakers and then split into different groups to work on team-building and ice-breaking exercises. The ideas that they gave us for next year’s IUS program were awesome, and we can’t wait to see if we can put them into practice. The energy and excitement that everyone had while participating is what really made this IUS Youth Summit such a huge success. Hearing from the kids who are directly involved with the program gives us a great opportunity to upgrade the program for the future. We would like to thank everyone who came out and spoke or helped. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to The School District of Philadelphia for its hospitality!
On Friday, May 30, 2014, Special Olympics Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, and the Public Coalition of Charter Schools came together for the 2nd Annual Unified Soccer Tournament to celebrate the culmination of this year’s Unified elective course.
With over 200 athletes and partners in attendance, along with incredible volunteers from TD Bank, Finish Line, and Thomas Edison High School among MANY others, the Unified Soccer Championship was a complete success. Special guests included Superintendent Dr. William Hite, several local councilmen and dignitaries, and our Ceremonial emcees, Jennifer Lewis-Hall and Zach Lashway from PHL17. Director of the Philadelphia Program, Barbara Chavous, and Special Olympics Pennsylvania CEO, Matthew Aaron, both spoke to the crowd and expressed the excitement and joy that this initiative brings to Special Olympics. If the sheer enthusiasm of those in attendance was not enough, 15 computers were donated between the participating schools on behalf of a partnership between Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia and Team Children.
Students from 15 Philadelphia schools played and supported one another as athletes both with and without intellectual disabilities took the field, together. The day was filled with happiness as spectators and participants were able to cheer on teams with SOPA Philly thunder sticks, handcrafted signs, and even let out some additional energy by attending Olympic Town with guest vendors like the Philadelphia Union and PHL17! The success of the day was confirmed when awards and praise were given to the participating schools and students who all roared at the recognition of their accomplishments. Although only one team walked away with the gold, every athlete and partner walked away from the 2nd Annual Unified Soccer Championship as a winner.
Special Olympics Unified Sports® is an inclusive sports program that puts athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. This Unified Soccer elective course includes a curriculum with youth leadership components, anti-bullying elements, and soccer training and competition. The course provides greater access to sports for all students, with and without disabilities.