Fall sports are starting to wrap up. Most people followed a sport and are eagerly awaiting winter sports. Highland had girls soccer, cross country, boys’ football, boys golf, and more going on this season. One of the teams that doesn’t get as much recognition is Highland’s unified soccer team, but they too had a great season.
Highland started participating in unified sports last year. They did soccer, basketball and track and this year they will do all three once again. The program has been a great opportunity for students to grow their skills and understand of the sports. In fact, the soccer team has already grown since last year. They had enough students for a team last year and this year they have enough for two.
“I think all of our unified sports are just really critical to establishing a better understanding for all of our students. It’s a great way to bring everyone together,” Highland principal Jerremy Chatterton said. “It’s a good unifier and it gives all of our students the ability to feel like they’re part of this school and to be supported and cheered on in a way that’s different for them.”
The team has been busy playing in several tournaments these past couple of months and Highland was proud to host one of them. On September 25, seven schools from around the region came to Highland for a Unified Soccer Tournament. Teams showed up and showed out from West High School, Grantsville High School, Stansbury High School and more.
Each team gave it their all and students filled the stands in support. Many students rallied to support their peers by going out to watch the tournament during their second period. This boosted the atmosphere of the tournament and made for a good time. The matches were exciting for the crowd and the teams stayed friendly with each other because everything was so positive.
One of Highland’s players, Elle Jacobs, has her whole heart in the game. Whether it be through encouraging her teammates or getting hyped while playing, Jacobs’s bright spirit shines. Even though practice can be a lot at times, Jacobs always has a smile on her face.
“It’s really fun,” Jacobs said. “It’s just a lot of practice that we put into this team. We work out like every single day.”
The athletes and partners have a class period for them to practice for their games. This helps build the team’s endurance and it allows those who have never played soccer to familiarize themselves with the sport. The coach, Heather Brown, started coaching last year and has loved it. Watching these students take a liking to soccer and grow as a team has been really rewarding for her.
“The athletes are doing so much better,” Brown said. “They know the rules of the game they know how to kick it their physical endurance has improved and I’m looking forward to basketball season after this.”
Other schools such as West High School and Grantsville High School have also loved introducing unified sports to their schools. West’s coach, Hailey Wilbert brought unified sports to their school last year by creating a unified basketball team and has pushed to bring more sports to her school.
“I think it really brings a sense of unity; it being called unified sports is like perfect because it’s just so inclusive, and it creates new friendships and new relationships with different people”
Unified sports are here to stay at these schools. Experiencing something new has been fun for these schools so they look forward to what the future has to offer. Highland’s last recreational soccer tournament was yesterday and though a season wrapping up can bring some emotions, the team is ready to take on basketball season.
