Jules Tuozzola

Staff Writer

The Unified Sports basketball tournament was a huge success! Teams from Law, Daniel Hand, Shelton, and Bunnell participated.  All schools had the opportunity to play 4, 10 minute games. This gave all athletes a chance to play in the tournament. This event included many fans, great energy, and a ton of fun!

Unified Sports coach, Ms. Basher, speaks about how successful this year’s tournament was. “This is the 3rd year Foran has hosted a large basketball tournament with multiple schools. The 2013 tournament had about 60 participants, and this year we had almost 150!”  Mrs. Basher also discusses what she believes to be the most successful part of the tournament. “I think the most successful part of the tournament was the support the players received from their friends, teachers, and community members. The team was thrilled to see so many students supporting the teams and cheering on everyone! Some spectators even made signs to support the team as well as individual players.” Mrs. Basher also describes how her players always put a smile on her face, and how their energy is infectious.

Unified coach, Mr. Raucci, expresses some great attributes of Unified Sports. “It provides students that would not normally be able to participate in sports an opportunity to become a part of a team and experience what it feels like to be a team member working towards a common goal of competing in a game.” Mr. Raucci emphasizes on the fact that Unified Sports brings out the sense of community established at Foran. He enjoys how many varsity athletes and a great amount of the student body rally around the Unified Sports athletes, and cheer them on. The support displayed at the Unified tournament was incredible.

Junior, Cassie Zak communicates the impact Unified Sports has had for her as a student. “I love doing Unified because all students enjoy working and playing together. It’s so nice to participate in a club which is centered around having fun and playing together.” Zak also adds, “The energy at the Unified tournament was amazing. Everyone was smiling, and enjoying themselves.” Mr. Raucci explains some  future goals and hopes for the Unified organization. “We hope, throughout each future tournament, that our Unified athletes have a good time playing. By doing this, they are learning a new skill and learning life skills like how to be a part of a team and how to work with other people to achieve a goal.”

Unified sports practices two or three times each month. Unified Sports has built a tremendous foundation within our school community. The hope is that unified continues to grow and the energy and enthusiasm towards Unified Sports remains and flourishes.