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North Thurston High School hosted the Unified Basketball League winter basketball games on Saturday, February 1, 2025, as teams from Black Hills, Elma, North Thurston, OlympiaTimberline, Tumwater, River Ridge, and Yelm high schools competed.

Emily McIntire, a Unified League coach for Yelm High School, loves the way the sport connects athletes with Yelm students. “Our athletes are making huge growth this year, but even better some of the peer mentors are learning to work better with our athletes,” remarked McIntire. “What I think is really awesome is that some of our students are learning to see high school in a new perspective by putting something bigger than themselves in their lives.” Yelm has three teams with over 30 athletes. They participate in one competitive team and two mixed-ability teams.

Unified teams in the South Sound region compete in a winter basketball league along with a fall soccer league. There is hope for competition in the spring in track and field events. The Unified Sports program works with Special Olympics for athletes with intellectual disabilities competing in various activities including clubs, fundraisers, inclusion campaigns, robotics and year-round sports like basketball and soccer.

Erika Dean, with North Thurston, loves that some of her team is mastering new skills and is excited for some of the new partner athletes joining the program. “At North Thurston, we have a really great culture of inclusion and acceptance and it is just a great mix of interaction between our different types of students,” Dean commented. The Unified program at North Thurston has a large club that helps strengthen the program with a variety of activities.

For Trevor Brooks, a student at North Thurston, the Unified team holds special meaning for him, as his brother TJ is part of the Ram basketball team. “One thing that I have seen for TJ is that he has a lot more confidence and wants to be more social now after joining the team,” Brooks commented. “It has been a great way for us to connect and we go and shoot hoops sometimes outside of practice.” Trevor created a system moving from a tennis racket to a blue board that helps TJ’s eyes draw closer to the basketball goal for better shooting accuracy.

Unified teams compete on Saturdays at the various local high schools and also host school “Pack the Gym” events that celebrate Unified Sports with the student body of each high school. River Ridge hosts their “Pack the Gym” on Monday, February 20, 2025, with future league games at Olympia High on February 8 and at Yelm High School on February 15.

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