On the fast track to success, the unified track team looks to be a great way to encourage some life lessons and to have a great experience. Unified track is for students with and without disabilities to engage with one another. It also gives students the opportunity to see beyond their first impressions of others.
“Unified sports, specifically, can help all students with and without disabilities build friendships, an understanding of each other's differences, sportsmanship and competition,” Coach Dena Condra said.
It helps students to see that even though they have disabilities it doesn't hold them back from being able to do things they enjoy. It is a chance to see other people for who they are and not their disabilities because they do not define a person.
Senior Kevin Dowdy was lucky enough to be able to be a part of the unified track team. Dowdy learned a lot and got to know the team a lot better, calling his fellow teammates “amazing.”
“[The team showed me] that they can be just like us,” he said. ”They have fun.”
There are many misconceptions about the unified track, and those misconceptions may be made because many people don't take the time to go out and watch a unified track meet. Unified is a competitive sport.
“Sometimes people think that unified sports is not a competitive thing simply due to the fact that our students with disabilities are involved,” Coach Amanda Westerfield said. “This is such a misconception because those student-athletes are some of the most competitive athletes you will find. They have a passion for these sports and each other and want to win.”
There is a lot of stigma surrounding people with disabilities and people make assumptions based on their disabilities, but their disabilities do not define them. Learning to see past assumptions and learn more about students with disabilities is an opportunity that is presented with joining a unified track.