When the bell rang at the end of the day March 20, the Wasatch Unified Basketball team — all in white jerseys — walked to Wasatch High School’s foyer. The school band was in tow, playing the Wasps’ fight song.
There they were met by a cheering crowd of teachers, parents and students ready to high-five the athletes.
The school was celebrating the team’s Unified Sports State Basketball Championships win. The tournament is hosted by Special Olympics Utah. It brought together 32 teams from 26 high schools, each featuring an equal number of students with and without intellectual disabilities.
Coach Carla Bedingfield, who also teaches adapted physical education classes, said the Delta Center in Salt Lake City was buzzing after the win was announced.
“We were all, like, on cloud nine, everybody's screaming, yelling, and we had the student body there just run and rush onto the court and we started just jumping,” Bedingfield said. “Then we went into the Wasatch High song.”
Seniors Lincoln Denna, also known as “The Half-Court King,” and Ben Rowe, the team’s most consistent shooter, said they love being on the court.
“I like to make half-court shots,” Denna said.
“My favorite part is to shoot,” Rowe said.
Sophomore Annie Yorgason said her favorite part is dancing with her teammates.
“You like to be with friends, huh, and when we dance with each other,” Bedingfield said.
The team practices every Monday and Bedingfield said the students worked especially hard this year. It’s been a while since the team qualified for the state championship, and it was exciting to see their efforts pay off.
Bedingfield said Wasatch was one of the first high schools to create a unified sports team 10 years ago. The teams are meant to promote social inclusion and are an opportunity to make friends.
“It's making people maybe more aware of everyone's strengths, or their weaknesses as well, and so as we get to work in a more casual setting, people are becoming much more open to differences,” Bedingfield said.
Student Martha Whittaker is one of the students without intellectual disabilities on the team. She moved to Heber City from England in the fall and said a friend recommended joining.
“I've done things like this before back home in England, and so when I heard about this opportunity, I was super excited to join and have fun,” she said. “Unified is great. It's probably the best hour of my week.”
Bedingfield said the whole school knows about the team and students are always ready to cheer Wasatch Unified on, whether it’s at the state championship or in the hallways.
She said the team exemplifies the power of sports: they are unifying on and off the court.
KPCW’s Gavin McGough contributed to this report.
