SCHOOLS: Truly Unforgettable

Unified Sports, which promotes social inclusion for students with and without intellectual disabilities who work and play together on teams, continues to evolve and grow along with its impact, importance and significance. It’s certainly a “game changer” for everyone involved.

Part of the Special Olympics of Michigan, Unified Sports partners with high school and middle school students who help as mentors, coaches, teammates and friends to the athletes.

The Allen Park Unified Sports basketball program started in November 2022, and joined Lincoln Park, Woodhaven-Brownstown, Wyandotte, and Carlson in the first year of Downriver competition. Allen Park’s Unified Sports program has since expanded to include bowling in the fall and track and field in the spring.

“This program has been an incredible success story in so many ways,” said Dr. Matt Sokol, special education director for Allen Park Public Schools. “The student-athletes feel a sense of belonging and pride in representing Allen Park. The student mentors do a tremendous job of supporting our student-athletes and form strong bonds with them that otherwise may not have happened.”

And then there is the pure excitement and joy that comes with friendly competition with your fellow students, and are clearly “unifying” events for everyone involved.

“The games themselves are electric and the parent/community involvement has been very strong,” said Dr. Sokol, who thanked the amazing efforts of coaches Chrissie Forth, Laura Beals, Caryl Dazer and Harriet Theise (bowling) along with APHS Athletic Director Jimmy Victor. “Without them, none of this would be possible. I’m very proud that we've been able to weave this in as part of the culture here in Allen Park.”

Forth, who took over as coach of the basketball program for the 2025-2026 season, is an Autism Spectrum Disorder classroom teacher at Lindemann Elementary.

“As a unified basketball coach, you walk into the gym expecting to teach the game, but very quickly you realize the game is teaching all of us,” said Forth, who had two assistant coaches, Beals (a paraprofessional in her classroom) and Dazer (an adapted PE teacher for APPS). “The first thing you notice is joy. The smiles when a shot goes up, the cheers from teammates on the bench, the pride on their faces when they’re encouraged and celebrated by their peers.

“Our team brings together special education and general education students, and what happens on the court is something special,” Forth added. “You see genuine connections form – high-fives after missed shots, teammates lifting each other up and moments where support matters more than the outcome. Those interactions carry far beyond the gym.”

This season Allen Park had 22 players on the team, including 14 athletes and eight peers. They played other unified basketball teams from neighboring districts such as Woodhaven, Wyandotte, Lincoln Park, Southgate and Carlson, and attended a unified basketball clinic hosted by Woodhaven-Brownstown School District.

The Allen Park team also participated in a unified basketball tournament hosted by the Lincoln Park Unified Basketball program (full day), with games against the same districts, skills competitions, a unified cheer performance and a dance party.

“The entire experience is incredibly uplifting,” Forth said. “Families fill the stands, the community shows up with open hearts and the energy in the room is unlike anything else. There’s a shared understanding that this is about belonging. Every athlete is seen. Every athlete matters.

“Watching our players grow in confidence, celebrate each other’s successes and play with pure joy is a reminder of why programs like unified basketball are so important. These moments stay with you. Long after the final buzzer, the feeling remains – and it’s something truly unforgettable.”