Unified Sports teams from New Jersey colleges and high schools will compete in separate divisions, each one hoping to take home the gold.
Special Olympics New Jersey will host its annual Shriver Cup Unified Soccer Tournament on Sunday at the Player's Development Academy in Somerset.
Unified Sports teams from New Jersey colleges and high schools will compete in separate divisions, each one hoping to take home the gold.
Unified Sports teams are made up of athletes with and without intellectual disabilities, bringing them together on sports teams to train and compete side-by-side, each one a meaningful and equal part of the team.
"Unified Sports is unlike any other college organization that I have been a part of," said Rachel Dickler, Unified partner and student at The College of New Jersey. "I look forward to Unified Sports each week because I get to hangout and compete with some of the best people I have ever met."
While this is a fun event for people of all abilities, it is also highly competitive. As the culminating event of the season, and teams practice together leading up to the tournament, some even host their own school-wide leagues. These teams come to the Shriver Cup to win.
This is the third annual College Shriver Cup Unified Soccer Tournament, and teams hail from the campuses of Drew University, Montclair University, Princeton University, Rider University, Rowan University, Rowan College at Gloucester County, Rutgers University, The College of New Jersey, and Stockton University, the team that won last year's College Shriver Cup Unified Soccer Tournament.
"Last year I played as a partner, representing Rowan University at the Shriver Cup. We got knocked out by Stockton, so this year as a coach, I am definitely hoping to bring the Shriver Cup back to Rowan University," said Teague Brody-Carney, Rowan University student and College Unified soccer coach. "But at the end of the day, my team just wants to have as much time to play Unified as we can, and I just want to see my team have the most fun - though hopefully that involves quite a few wins.
"Playing College Unified is something I will miss dearly when I leave Rowan, so I'm happy for another opportunity to play again this Sunday."
This is the second time the Shriver Cup will be contested at the high school level, with teams hailing from Elizabeth, Ewing, Hamilton West, Montgomery, Raritan-Hazlet, Union County, and Union City, the team that won last year's High School Shriver Cup Unified Soccer Tournament.
The colleges involved in the Special Olympics New Jersey College Unified Sports program are all official clubs on campus, created by and for the students on that campus, all of whom have the common goals of enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and building a more accepting world for all.
The high schools involved in this year's Shriver Cup are all part of SONJ's School Partnership Program, know as the Unified Strategy for Schools, meaning that their school offers not only Unified Sports opportunities, but is also working towards more inclusive school climates, and offers leadership opportunities to people of all ability levels.
"TCNJ has a program where students with intellectual disabilities take college classes and are immersed in the college experience," continued Dickler. "Unified Sports complements this program by creating an incisive environment where long-lasting friendships between college students with and without disabilities can form. Since the beginning of Unified Sports at TCNJ, I have witnessed a change in the environment on campus as diverse friendships have developed."
All Special Olympics New Jersey Unified Sports programs are made possible by generous funding from the New Jersey Department of Education, PSEG Foundation and Walmart Foundation.