The moment you walk inside the gym, it feels a little different than your average high school Plymouth North vs. Plymouth South basketball game.
A pregame warmup period that might just break out into a dance party. Fans and cheerleaders, and even players, rooting for both teams. A referee fist-bumping with a player who makes a basket.
You’re right, it’s a little different from your normal basketball game, but that’s what makes it kind of awesome. It’s the MEGABOWL, the sixth annual battle between the unified basketball teams from Plymouth North and Plymouth South. South hosted the event inside a packed gymnasium.
Unified sports is a Special Olympics program that pairs athletes with intellectual disabilities with partners without disabilities as teammates in the spirit of competition and camaraderie. Lasting bonds of friendship are forged between the athletes and the partners extending well beyond the walls of the high school.
“I’ve been part of this since freshman year and my favorite part of unified sports is making new friends,” said Leila Asatashvili, a senior at Plymouth North. “I’d recommend it for everyone.”
Being part of a welcoming community is what hits home about unified sports for Plymouth South’s Cameron Maher.
“It’s fun hanging out with my friends and making new ones,” Maher said. “All the support that we get is super amazing and I’d love it if even more people took part in the program.”
Basketball and spring track and field are the unified sports currently offered at Plymouth South and Plymouth North. Strength training and bocce are also available as sports in some schools and Scituate High was part of a group piloting a unified tennis program this fall.
Unified sports programs continue to blossom across the state of Massachusetts as well as the entire country. More than 10,800 schools in the United States are in the Unified Champion Schools program. They are in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Earlier this year Scituate High became the latest South Shore school to be named a National Unified Champion School by Special Olympics. Plymouth North, Plymouth South, and Hingham High have also been presented with the same award in recent years.
Last week’s basketball game was also Senior Night for many of the graduating athletes. Some of them shared their own thoughts about what being a part of the unified sports program has meant to them.
“I love this program,” Nick Ferry said. “It’s fun to be on a team with these guys and seeing my friends in school every day.”
Standing right beside Ferry was his twin brother, Nolan. Both are skilled basketball players and Nolan specializes in the jumps and the shot put during the spring unified track competitions.
Alec Johnson said he enjoys how unified sports offers him “the opportunity to play with different teams” while making friends with new and different people every day.
Rumor has it Plymouth South kept its MEGABOWL victory streak alive with a win by a couple of baskets over Plymouth North. But we all know the real winners were everyone inside the gym who got to enjoy watching all of the fun.
Plymouth North hosted a unified basketball jamboree on Friday with teams from Plymouth South, Scituate, Duxbury, Marshfield, Hingham, as well as Silver Lake.
David Wolcott can be reached at dwolcott@plymouthindependent.org