Our school-based sports programs focus on joining students with and without disabilities on the same team. This is the premise of Unified Sports®, which was inspired by the simple principle that training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
Sports & Fitness Programs
There are many options for playing school-based sports, including opportunities for Pre-K to 8th grade, high school and college participants.
Young Athletes
Young Athletes is an inclusive sports-play program for children ages 2 – 7 that prepares them for future participation in sports while improving gross motor, social and cognitive skills. It’s play with a purpose!
Inclusive Physical Education
Through the Learn. Practice. Play. UNIFIED. program, Special Olympics New Jersey provides inclusive and adaptive teaching strategies for Pre-K through high school and beyond. Inclusive programming opportunities make early childhood fundamental motor movement, physical education and sports programs accessible to children of all abilities.
New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association Interscholastic Unified Sports
Special Olympics New Jersey and the New Jersey High School Athletic Association (NJSIAA) partnered to make Unified Sports a part of interscholastic high school athletics. Interscholastic Unified Sports teams are more structured and competitive than Play Unified Club Sports.
Play Unified Club Sports
Intramural or club Unified Sports programs offer the most flexibility and the greatest variety for middle and high school students. Recreational in nature, intramural clubs are a great way to introduce students to Unified Sports game rules and team play in a less competitive setting.
College Unified Sports
College Unified Sports programs were inspired by the same idea that playing together leads to stronger communities and campuses. College Unified functions as a club on campus, uniting students (Unified partners) and their peers with intellectual disabilities (athletes).
Get Your School Involved
Visit our Unified Champion Schools page for information on becoming a partner school for grades Pre-K through high school. You can also contact ucs@sonj.org.
To become a part of College Unified, visit the College Sports page. You can also contact Jess Stevenson at jns@sonj.org.