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How This Troop Celebrates Diversability Through Basketball

Photo: Bryan on Scouting

These Massachusetts Scouts are touching lives in a big way through a service project that teaches skills both on and off the court. Troop 4 of the Mohegan Council recently formed not one, but three Special Olympics Unified Sports basketball teams.

Unified Sports teams include both members with and without intellectual disabilities, giving everyone on the team a unique opportunity to learn from each other. After all, playing sports is one of the most exciting ways to develop strong teamwork skills, so what better way to foster an active and inclusive environment than through team spirit?

Photo: Bryan on Scouting

In a recent blog post, Scouting expert Bryan on Scouting explains, “Through on-the-court teamwork, these Scouts have developed a better understanding of individuals different from themselves.”

Members from all three teams demonstrate the true meaning of “diversability,” celebrating teammates’ disabilities as something empowering, not limiting.

“It’s a way to spend time with people that I normally wouldn’t get to spend time with,” Star Scout Rosend told Bryan. “All the stereotypes that I believed in are gone. Now I believe that my teammates with disabilities are awesome, and I want to thank Special Olympics for giving me this special opportunity to change my perception.”

According to Lauren Hopper, the troop’s assistant Scoutmaster, the Scouts who participate on the teams are developing leadership skills that go beyond the court. Hopper explained, “we have found that our Scouts who participate have developed a broader understanding of their role in the community.”

Learn more about how these Scouts are using the excitement of basketball to make a positive impact in their community by reading the original story from Bryan on Scouting.

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Rochelle

Rochelle Randles is a communications specialist at the Boy Scouts of America. She enjoys sharing incredible adventure stories within the Scouting community and beyond. If you have story ideas or questions, reach out to us at communications@scouting.org.