Hamburg, Kutztown win gold and silver at Berks Bocce Championship
The Hamburg Hawks Team A and Kutztown won gold and silver, respectively, at the 2021 Special Olympics Interscholastic Unified Sports Berks County Bocce Championships held at Brandywine Heights High School in March.
The Hamburg Hawks Team B won bronze and Brandywine Heights finished in 4th place.
This was the second season of Unified Bocce in Berks County. Last season the participating schools were Hamburg, Brandywine and Exeter. This year, the plan was to add two additional schools, but due to COVID, Kutzown was the only new school added and Exeter did not participate.
“Hamburg had two teams this year. The other schools had one team. Last year we had one team and we won the Championship game and were headed to compete at States in Hershey when COVID hit so it was canceled,” said Tracy Herber, Transition Coordinator at Hamburg Area School District.
As a first year coach, Danielle Berger, Special Education Department Leader at Kutztown Area School District, had one expectation and that was for all participants to have fun.
“Reflecting on the season, we far surpassed that expectation,” said Berger. “I had hoped that our Special Olympians, all for the first time, felt a sense of belonging and pride in being part of a varsity team within their school.”
“My hope for our partner athletes (athletes without disabilities), and overall student body was that they would be able to see their teammates as teammates and not teammates with disabilities,” she continued. “I think we are certainly on our way to changing perceptions. We had an awesome group of partner athletes.”
The competition is run by Unified Sports which is a partnership between Special Olympics of PA, PIAA and the participating school districts.
“Special Olympics Pennsylvania provides professional learning for coaches and creates a platform and schedule for participating schools,” said Scott Geist, Brandywine Heights Area School District Athletic Director. “Each team played each other prior to the culminating championship event held at Brandywine Heights in March. Each School District is responsible for providing transportation to the events, game workers and officials.”
Geist said the purpose of this event was “promoting social inclusion among students with and without disabilities through shared sports training and competition experiences.”
He hopes the students gained from the experience “the acquisition of the many life skills and lessons learned while playing sports. More importantly, Unified Sports provides the platform for students with and without disabilities to enhance understanding, eliminate preconceptions and develop friendships that will last a lifetime.”
“It is our hope that Unified Bocce continues to grow and more schools in Berks County participate in future years,” added Geist. “I can honestly say that participating in Unified Sports has been one of the most inspiring activities I have had the opportunity to be part of in almost 30 years in education.”
According to the Special Olympics, the Special Olympics Interscholastic Unified Sports (IUS) is a fully-inclusive co-ed afterschool high school sports program.
“One other component of the Unified Championship Schools program is Special Olympics PA Unified Champion Schools is a fully-inclusive program which uses sports and youth leadership to successfully facilitate social inclusion and improve school climate,” said Berger. “Students with intellectual disabilities, autism, and other disabilities come together as equal peers with students without disabilities to demonstrate and promote the values of acceptance, teamwork, and empowerment for all.”
“COVID has made this portion of the program a bit difficult to get off the ground. Moving forward this will be a goal for us,” added Berger.
Special Olympics of PA made some provisions for COVID. If schools were fully virtual and not able to do in-person competitions, students would have been able to participate at home through a virtual platform.
“Thankfully, all of the Berks County schools were able to compete in person,” said Berger. “Due to COVID, all postseason (at state level) competitions were canceled.”
“We are very thankful for the support of the administration, faculty, staff and student body of KASD and our volunteer officials,” added Berger.
“Each school followed mitigation strategies (facial coverings at all times, social distancing, hand hygiene) outlined in each school district’s Health and Safety plans,” said Geist. “These mitigation strategies were implemented at all competitions to ensure safe participation. In addition, a limited number of spectators were allowed at each contest throughout the season and each game was livestreamed on school district YouTube channels.”