VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Virginia Beach Public Schools and the Special Olympics have partnered to create a Middle School Unified Basketball League.
The league opened on April 30, and teams from Bayside Middle, Independence Middle, Lynnhaven Middle, Corporate Landing Middle and Princess Anne Middle are participating in the weekly competitions.
The league says that its goal is to foster an inclusive school environment through sports by integrating athletes with and without intellectual disabilities. Students from Old Donation Center are serving as volunteers for this heart warming cause.
Special Olympics Unified Sports® is a program that combines Special Olympics athletes and athletes without intellectual disabilities (partners) on sports teams for training and competition… Unified Sports is an important program because it expands sports opportunities for athletes seeking new challenges and dramatically increases inclusion in the community. The Unified Sports program was launched throughout the United States in 1989, after two years of field-testing.
