CLARKS SUMMIT — Abington Heights student athletes sat on plastic chairs, waiting for their turn to roll a red or green ball close to the smaller yellow ball positioned inside an indoor bocce court.
The focused students are members of the district’s first Unified Bocce team, which was established this year. They were practicing in the high school cafeteria Thursday for their first season, which begins at the end of the month. They will square up against teams from Carbondale Area and Wallenpaupack Area for a spot at the state competition in Hershey in February.
Head coach and high school life skills teacher, Casey Beichler, established the first unified sports team — track and field — at Abington Heights three years ago. The program, affiliated with the Special Olympics and endorsed by ESPN, brings together students with and without intellectual disabilities to compete in various sports against other schools.
Beichler, who oversees the sports programs and also a unified club at the high school, said the district was able to add bocce to its unified sports offerings after running a successful track and field team for two years.
“It’s a really great experience because it allows student to just work as a team. It really blurs line of who has a disability and who doesn’t,” she said.
She attended a coaches training to learn the sport of bocce, an Italian ball game. Two teams of eight players start off by rolling a pallina — a smaller yellow ball — onto the court. They then have to roll larger green or red balls closest to the pallina to score points. The first team to score 16 points or to have the most points before 30 minutes is up, wins the match.
On Thursday, the students warmed up with stretches. They separated into teams and got rolling while their peers cheered each other on and high fived.
“When we practice, everybody is a teammate,” said Beichler.
Senior Alison Gilmore enjoys interacting with her teammates.
“It always bring me joy,” she said. “School can be hard and stressful and it brightens up a tough week.”
Sophomore Norah Carey is competitive. During practice Thursday, she expertly rolled her team ball extremely close to the pallina.
Norah is looking forward to their first bocce competition.
Bocce is not as easy as it looks, said junior Brooke Sorensen, who added unified sports is a great community and environment.
“I love it. It’s great to work with people and spreading kindness,” she said.
The unified track team begins its third season this spring with a full roster of athletes and multiple schools to compete against, said Beichler.
Through unified track and field, members of the first team, some of whom have graduated, learned why inclusivity is so important and formed lifelong friendships, said Beichler. The students with intellectual disabilities get to be part of a team which helps them develop their social skills, she added.
“We brought it to Abington Heights because we wanted to give students with and without disabilities the ability to feel like they’re part of their school,” said Beichler.
Contact the writer: kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter