By GLEN WERLING
Norwell senior — now graduate — Brandon Schmidt loves sports. But until five years ago, there were no outlets for Brandon to express that desire to compete.
Norwell High School Athletic Director Kelby Weybight changed that.
“When I took over the athletic director’s position five years ago, one of my goals was to get us started in the Unified Sports programs,” Weybright said.
“My wife Lisa has a cousin with a Down’s syndrome child and ever since he was four or five years old when we would get together at family functions, he and I were buddies. He would say all he wanted to do was play sports. We would shoot baskets, we would play football, we would kick soccer balls, we would throw a baseball.
“Sports is something that gave him an incredible amount of enjoyment. He loved it. What better way to open doors for kids like him than to put a program like this together?”
According to the Indiana High School Athletic Association website, Unified Sports is part of Champions Together, a collaborative partnership between the IHSAA and Special Olympics Indiana that promotes servant leadership among student athletes while changing their lives as well as the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.
The goal is to partner students with an inclusive leadership team that will do sports activities with students with disabilities, not for them.
To participate in Champions Together, schools must host at least one Unified sport. Norwell has chosen track, but it also can be flag football, bocce ball or bowling. Participating in Unified Fitness Clubs or Unified Physical Education also meets the requirements of Champions Together.
“It’s a partnership between the athletes, who are anyone within a special education classification who have an IEP (individual education program) and their partners. Partners are a general education student,” Webright said. “When we enter kids for the 100 meter race at the sectional, we can enter two athletes and two partners. They score it like a regular track meet based on seed times.”
The students compete in heats and the scorer may not know who’s an athlete and who’s a partner. “They put you in heats based on your skill level,” Weybright added. Some of the larger schools have a larger pool of students to draw from and therefore may have youth with more skill and who are more athletically gifted.
“But it’s a great way to get kids involved in a sport they might otherwise not partake in,” Weybright said.
Sue Elzey has served as the team coach for the past two years, assisted by Hannah Feasel.
“I wanted to be the coach when I found out the previous coach was no longer doing it and no one was stepping up and the team would not have continued. I couldn’t let that happen. These kids deserve to have a team. I jumped in blindly, not knowing what it took and how things worked,” Elzey recalled.
It was a challenge for Elzey to learn the entire system of Unified Track. “I have had to learn all the rules and regulations quickly and get certified in multiple areas to be a coach. Last year (being my first year) It was a last minute decision which made for a short period of time to get things done so the team could get started.
“The team itself — all the kids — have been amazing. Everyone gets along, everyone helps out, everyone encourages each other. It amazes me how these kids look at life. They are always happy and full of energy and ready to go. It truly makes my day,” she added.
The team’s first year of competition was the 2019 season.
This year, there were seven scheduled events. Norwell hosted DeKalb and Adams Central in its first home meet and Columbia City in its second meet.
The Knights ran at Blackford, took part in the North Side Relays and ran a meet at Carroll against Carroll and North Side high schools.
The sectional meet was at Central Noble, but Norwell did not finish among the top three teams so its season came to a close.
In addition to Schmidt, who was the lone senior on this year’s roster, the team consisted of Lathan Mills, Jack Brown, Jordan Ryan, Mekynzi Beck, Parker Behning, Kinsey Clark, Luke Dreiband, Jake Gruss, Austin Haiflich, Michael Long, Jenna Osborn and Ashlyne Shanks.
Participating high schools must also raise a minimum of $1,500 for the Champions Together project.
To raise the necessary funds the first year, ice cream sundaes were sold at lunchtime. The following year the program received a donation from a local church.
“The last two years to raise the $1,500 we’ve done polar plunges,” Weybright said. Youth would raise funds through a challenge whereby they would take a plunge in icy cold water in the wintertime. Each of the past two years they exceeded their goals. Two years ago the youth raised $1,800. This past year it was $2,000.
The school has also sponsored inclusion week. This year’s activity was wrist bands for students who would wear a certain color of socks.
“We say, ‘Hey, let’s be an inclusive place. Let’s be accepting.’ I think that the program for the track kids — they get a tremendous amount of enjoyment out of it, but I believe the partners who are a part of the team also find in it something bigger than themselves,” Weybright said.
Elzey agrees, “The rewards are abundant. These kids bless me in so many ways. Their attitudes. Their eagerness. Their determination. I love being around them. They help me focus on the good and have fun in life.”
Norwell High School’s adoption of the Unified Track program is just one example of how the people and institutions are working to make Wells County the special place it is … and serves as an excellent introduction to this year’s edition of “Who We Are,” included in today’s edition.
