The following is an excerpt from the article titled The Importance of Inclusion and Access in Youth Sports published by The National Recreation and Park Assocation.
Recognizing that young people with disabilities do not often get a chance to play on their school’s sports teams, Special Olympics champions the Unified Sports program to connect people with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) on the same team. This scalable social sports model brings together teams of similarly aged kids to practice and experience games that are challenging but fun in nature.
Park and recreation professionals can be champions of unified sports models by offering opportunities for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities to participate together. Through local Special Olympics programs, park and recreation professionals can receive education and training on the various inclusive sports programs they can offer in their community.