Following the success of their bocce ball team last school year, Berkley High is expanding the Unified Sports initiative with more teams, starting with Unified Soccer. A Unified Sports program is where all students with and without disabilities join together to play a sport. Spearheaded by special education teacher Mrs. Sclafani, who previously worked in Wyandotte Public Schools (which also has a unified sports program), BHS first began implementing Unified Sports last spring, starting with the Unified Bocce Ball. Because of the new program, BHS was declared a Unified Champion School (a school that promotes social inclusion through activities) last year by the Special Olympics, joining districts such as Clawson, Bloomfield, and Royal Oak.

Interested in what a Unified Soccer team would look like, I observed one of their Tuesday afternoon practices. The team begins by gathering in a circle and doing stretching exercises, with paraprofessionals encouraging students and assisting them if they need it. Then Mrs. Martinuzzi, a special education teacher and head coach, sorts the students into red and blue teams, gives them jerseys, and goes over each of their positions. Then the game begins, with students encouraging each other as they compete. Parapros and parent volunteers serve as the referees and also encourage the students as they play. While talking about the team working together, senior Arianna Tovarez says, “We get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we can play better together.” Sophomore Michael Segvich says, “It feels nice to work together and coordinate so we can keep strategizing and beat the opponent.”

While the Unified Soccer team doesn’t have any set games as of yet, the team is still rigorously practicing each week and the students are very optimistic about competing together. When asked why they joined the team, Tovarez says, “I wanted to meet new people and be more active outside of school.” Michael says he joined to “work hard and play hard with my friends and get the job done.” In addition to the soccer and bocce ball teams, the special education department is planning a potential Unified Basketball team as well, which will hopefully begin playing in the winter. As for now, the Unified Soccer team meets every Tuesday for practice and their first game will be played October 4th in Royal Oak.