UNIFIED SPORTS™ COACHES HANDBOOK CONNECTICUT INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SPECIAL OLYMPICS CONNECTICUT Lou Pear, CIAC/SOCT Unified Sports™ Director, [email protected] Ken Bragg, CIAC/SOCT Unified Sports™ Assistant Director, [email protected] Robert Deasy, CIAC/SOCT Unified Sports™ Assistant Director, [email protected] Beth Rasumssen, CIAC/SOCT Young Athlete Program Coodinator, [email protected] 30 Realty Drive, Cheshire, Connecticut 06410 Telephone - (203) 250-1111 Fax - (203) 250-1345 www.casciac.org ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication was prepared under the direction of Beau Doherty, Executive Director of Special Olympics Connecticut, Scott Chausse, former Director of Sports Management, Ann Malafronte, former Director of CIAC/SOCT Unified Sports™, Karen Packtor Assistant Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Schools, Janet Moulin, Bolton Schools, Janet Lucco, Berlin, Karen Carlson, Suffield, Chris Daniels, Newington Schools and Barbara Hedden, Cheshire Schools. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLES CIAC / SOC Unified Sports™............................................................ 1 General Information............................................................................ 2 - 4 Entry Procedure Sample Letter...................................................................................... 5 Eligibility Criteria............................................................................... 6 Unified Partner Eligibility................................................................... 7 Letter to Tournament Directors........................................................... 8 Letter to Unified Sports Coaches........................................................ 10 Tournament Rules and Regulations Unified Sports™ Soccer..................................................................... 12 Unified Sports™ Soccer Coaches Training Clinic............................. 13 Soccer Intent-to-Enter Form............................................................... 14 Soccer Entry Forms............................................................................ 15 - 16 Divisioning Criteria............................................................................ 17 Tournament Rules.............................................................................. 18 Tournament Rules for Lower Divisions............................................. 19 Unified Sports™ Fall Elementary Skill Day Intent-to-Enter Form... 20 Unified Sports™ Basketball............................................................... 21 Basketball Intent-to-Enter Form......................................................... 22 Basketball Entry Forms....................................................................... 23 - 24 Divisioning Criteria............................................................................. 25 Tournament Rules............................................................................... 26 Tournament Rules for Lower Divisions.............................................. 27 Unified Sports™ Volleyball and Track & Field.................................. 28 - 29 Volleyball Intent-to-Enter Form........................................................... 30 Volleyball Entry Forms........................................................................ 31 - 32 Divisioning Criteria.............................................................................. 33 Tournament Rules................................................................................. 34 Track Intent-to-Enter Form................................................................... 35 Tournament Rules................................................................................. 36 - 38 Track Tournament Order of Events...................................................... 39 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLES Unified Sports™ Spring Elementary Skill Days................................. 40 Elementary Skill Days Intent-to-Enter Form....................................... 41 Elementary Skill Days Entry Form...................................................... 42 Elementary Sports Skills...................................................................... 43 - 54 Baseball.................................................................................... 43 Basketball................................................................................. 44 Floor Hockey............................................................................ 44 - 46 Jump Rope................................................................................ 46 - 47 Soccer...................................................................................... 47 - 48 Tennis ...................................................................................... 48 Volleyball................................................................................. 49 Track......................................................................................... 49 - 54 Medical Forms Special Athlete Medical Form.............................................................. 55 Special Partner Medical Form.............................................................. 56 Release Form........................................................................................ 57 Medical Form (Spanish)....................................................................... 58 Release Form (Spanish)........................................................................ 59 Tentative Unified Sports™ Calendar of Events.......................................... 60 - 62 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Connecticut Special Olympics 30 Realty Dr, Cheshire, CT 06410 2666-1 State Street, Hamden, CT 06517 Telephone (203) 250-1111 Telephone (203) 230-1201 Fax (203) 250-1345 Fax (203) 230-1202 Northwest Region Eastern Region Southwest Region 1459 South Britain Road 401 West Thames Street 999 Oronoque Southbury, CT 06488 Norwich, CT 06360 Stratford, CT 06614 (203) 267-6566 (860) 887-1555 (203) 380-9990 Special Olympics Connecticut (SOCT) & Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) A Unified Sports™ Partnership As a part of the Special Olympics Connecticut outreach efforts for school-aged athletes, Special Olympics Connecticut and the Connecticut Association of Schools began a partnership in 1992 utilizing the Special Olympics Unified Sports™ program. Rapidly growing, Unified Sports™ is a registered sports program that combines individuals with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and individuals without intellectual disabilities (partners). The Special Olympics Connecticut / Connecticut Association of Schools partnership brings Unified Sports™ to student athletes with and without intellectual disabilities in Connecticut public and parochial schools, provided an opportunity for student athletes to train and compete in a variety of different team sports. Unified Sports™ events bring special education and regular education students together on the same playing field, using the athletic arena as a forum to help break barriers on a grassroots level and to mainstream students with intellectual disabilities. This innovative approach has had and will continue to have a dramatic impact on the number of school- age children who will now have the opportunity to participate in organized team sports through their school. The CAS / Special Olympics Connecticut Unified Sports™ program currently boasts a participation of more than 1400 athletes and partners, and 120 schools throughout the state. Unified Sports™ now offered within the program include Unified Sports™ soccer, basketball, volleyball and track for middle and high school ages, along with sports skills events for elementary students. Connecticut Association of Schools is a non-profit organization which provides education and activity opportunities for students in public schools. CAS is also linked with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) which governs all interscholastic high school sports in Connecticut. By promoting Unified Sports™ as another one of the programs CAS offers, it is able to better fulfill their mission to improve the quality of education experiences for Connecticut students. In 1992, CAS piloted two Special Olympics Connecticut Unified Sports™ events which allowed over 200 elementary and middle school students with and without disabilities to compete in a variety of sports activities. The success of these events helped CAS to obtain a grant from Special Olympics International for the purpose of developing and expanding Unified Sports™ throughout Connecticut’s schools. Within this partnership, CAS is responsible for organizing and running over twenty-nine Unified Sports™ competitions during the school year, recruiting and training public schools to participate in a Unified Sports™ event for each school level (elementary, middle, high) during each season of the school year, accessing tournament sites, and recruiting and training volunteers for the program. Notable events include two Manchester High School Unified Sports™ basketball teams’ demonstration game at half-time of a University of Connecticut’s National Champions Lady Huskies game and the recent adoption of a CAS/Special Olympics Unified Sports™ basketball league by the Central Connecticut Conference. 1 MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. How many players do I need? A. On the middle and high school levels, at least 5 team members are needed to form a basketball or soccer team (3 special athletes and 2 special