I am a sports mom.  It tickles me to say it.  At 17, my Nicholas is a varsity athlete at his high school.  I am amazed at this odd turn of events.  It made perfect sense to me when my older son Kelston became a star in the school shows during his Junior year.  I was waiting for him to find an outlet for his voice and talent.  Don't get me wrong, I knew that Nicholas was an athlete on the inside - he has a competitive spirit and loves to kick the soccer ball around, score goals on the basketball hoop and swim in the meets at our local beach.   I just didn't think he would ever be allowed to join a sport at his school,  actually play it and win a medal doing it (if he plays the sport for 4 years, he will also letter in it).  

Nicholas spent 15 years just barely tolerating school.  There were days I felt I was dragging him out of the house, but high school changed everything.  Nicholas started at SPHS last year and I was considering pulling him out at 16 if he was going to fight with me in the morning about getting up and going to school.  With a school start of 7:16am, I was sure that it was going to be a battle.  Thankfully, his teacher allowed him to come in after the first bell because there is too many people and activity to get Nicholas safely to his room.  I arrive at 7:35am, flip the lid open, pull out the wheelchair (he rides in this when the distance is too far) and deliver him to an aide at the front door.  Nicholas gets excited in the morning and happily goes out the door - it is a miracle.

Why?  It is called Unified Sports. A program in the county schools that is affiliated with Special Olympics.  There are three Unified Sports and they are treated with all the respect and seriousness as all the rest of the sports offered in the high school - Tennis in the Fall, Bowling in the Winter and Bocce in the Spring.  There is a schedule of practices and games and you are to attend all of those unless you have a doctors note.    It is tennis season right now and Nicholas was so excited to wear his white shorts ( I am hoping they are not covered in ketchup or mustard or pizza sauce after lunch).  He also pointed to his white adidas tennis shoes this morning, telling me that he wanted to wear them. I bought these in the summer and after a couple of weeks, I noticed that they were rubbing his little toe.  I couldn't take them back because he had already worn them too much - so I put them aside to give to charity.  It is crazy hard to find a pair of trendy shoes that his braces will fit into.  So today I took a sharp pair of scissors and cut up the front of the shoe to open it up a bit and hopefully take the stress off his toe.  I hope Nicholas is never outside when it rains, because both of his shoes have open gaps in the front to give his braces and feet a little more room.

So unified sports is this incredible program - linking athletes and special athletes together to achieve success.  It is providing an incredible education for those high school students who join the team.  It is a partnership that works so beautifully that it leaves you wondering why it took so long to put into place.  I am so grateful that it is there for Nicholas.  He loves it and it is a social outlet that he would otherwise not have.  He is part of a team and he gets excited if they win.  He was third place in the All County Bowling Championship for Unified Sports.  He went to the State Bocce Championships.  All I can think is "What a Wonderful World" it can be with the right leadership.