If the first year of unified basketball is any indication, the newest addition to the interscholastic sports menu sanctioned by the Maine Principals’ Association has a bright future.
“I think it well exceeded expectations on and off the court,” said Ian Frank of Special Olympics of Maine’s Project Unify, one of the sport’s sponsors. “Everything that came out of it has just been outstandingly positive from all the comments we’ve heard and what we witnessed firsthand.”
Unified basketball teams athletes with developmental disabilities with nonvarsity partners without developmental disabilities.
Its introduction in 17 Maine high schools this winter stemmed from a partnership among the Maine Principals’ Association, Special Olympics of Maine and Project Unify, a branch of Special Olympics dedicated to increasing athletic and leadership opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities.
Based on early returns in the aftermath of a postseason that concluded with Hampden Academy edging Lisbon 32-30 in overtime to win the inaugural unified basketball state championship, participation in the sport is likely to grow next year.
“Our staff, representatives of Special Olympics and the committee that [Maine Principals’ Association assistant executive directors] Mike [Burnham] and Gerry [Durgin] put together is going to sit down and reflect on how could we have done unified basketball a little better, how can we tweak it, and how might we do it differently next year,” said Maine Principals’ Association executive director Dick Durost.
“We’ll also talk about how to get the message out. It’s great that we had 17 or 18 schools involved this year, but after watching this, I fully expect that we’re going to have twice as many schools next year,” Durost said. “I can see us reaching the point, particularly in the larger schools, where there’s a varsity and a JV squad.
“I just think it’s going to catch on,” he added.
Frank indicated that the Maine Principals’ Association’s Unified Sports Committee may choose to make modest adjustments to how the game is organized before next season. It may modify the length of the game, which this year involved four, eight-minute quarters of running time except during free-throw attempts.
But he agreed with Durost that the biggest change next winter likely will be the number of participating schools.
“We’ve had athletic directors and principals and other educators from schools across the state who have traveled to witness games, and they’ve seen unified sports at its finest,” Frank said. “I’ve heard from many different schools that they’re interested in it. They want to get going with it and get that conversation going now so that they can get started next year.”
Project Unify/Special Olympics of Maine offers seed money of up to $3,000 per year to help pay expenses for schools starting unified sports teams, another incentive for the expansion of the program.
Among the schools that already have expressed interest in adding unified basketball next winter is Brewer.
“It wasn’t something that was immediately on my radar this year, and I wish it had been,” said Brewer athletic administrator Dave Utterback. “I wish I’d had the foresight to have done it this year because it seems like it’s a great program. What an opportunity it is for kids from all walks of life to do something extraordinary.
“There’s no drawback to it, I think,” he added.
Durost also indicated that there’s likely to be interest in expanding unified sports offerings beyond the basketball court in the near future.
“I think basketball was the ideal sport to start with,” he said, “but I think there’s going to be a real discussion about what’s next.”
