Using the same model as the Unified Bocce program, Baldwin is starting a Unified Track and Field team this spring.
Middle school teacher Victoria Sgattoni is the first head coach for the program, which will give Baldwin students another unified sport. The Unified Track team will have students of different abilities working together to learn athletic skills and promote inclusion.
“It is a high school sport that will promote inclusion by uniting students on the same team,” Sgattoni said.
The Unified Track team will also give Baldwin athletes who participate in the county’s Special Olympics Summer Games a chance to further develop their skills before that event.
“The idea comes from the bocce model and the potential for the track to be the same,” Sgattoni said. “Also, since the Special Olympics Summer Games are held here at Baldwin, this allows us to focus on those events.”
Unified Track athletes will select which events they want to compete in. For running, there are 100, 400, and 800 meter races and a relay race. There are three field events: turbo jav, shot put, and long jump. Athletes can choose to compete in just one event or all events.
Athletes will perform at home and away meets with other unified track teams in the area, with divisions being based upon athletes’ preliminary scores. The sport is based on the Partners model, with an emphasis on teamwork.
“The team will have their baseline score completed and then at each meet they will be competing against their baseline time or distance for throwing,” Sgattoni said. “The team will then earn scores based on how they compete against themselves. This way, we can make sure each player is competitive and participates.”
The team will compete in three meets, two home and one away. The first meet is at home against Belle Vernon and Mount Pleasant at 3:30 p.m. on April 10. The team will practice once a week after school to prepare for the meets.
The purpose of the team goes beyond athletics, Sgattoni said.
“My goal is to build positive relationships across the board with all students. Having this team not only works on the athletic part of the sport but also works on teamwork as well as healthy competition,” Sgattoni said.
Eric Jankoski, Baldwin’s transition coordinator, helps run the Unified Bocce team and has been supporting Sgattoni with Unified Track.
“I don’t have an official role. I guess I work as a general manager in a sense since I help support Coach Sgattoni,” Jankoski said.
Baldwin, Fox Chapel, Plum, and Highlands are the four Allegheny County schools participating in Unified Track. There are about 20 schools competing throughout the Three Rivers region of Special Olympics PA, Jankoski said.
Among the Baldwin Unified Track team members are students who have competed in Unified Bocce and Partners PE. One of them is junior Kirsten Fohr, has been in Partner’s PE for two years and is on the executive board for the Best Buddies program.
“I think it’s nice we already have such an inclusive school, and I feel like bringing more things in is raising more awareness,” said Fohr, who also ran track in middle school. “We have a program that other schools may look into, and bringing more programs in gives us a better chance of being able to reach more people and make a bigger impact.”
Senior Emily Nowicki also joined the unified track team because of her previous experience in Partners classes and unified sports.
“I originally joined the Unified Bocce team, and I had so much fun with it,” Nowicki said. “I also really enjoy Special Olympics, so I decided to join Unified Track.”
Team members are excited for this first season, she said.
“I’m really looking forward to just seeing how it all works,” Nowicki said. “It’s our first team, so it’s very very new for us. We’re all really excited for it to start.”
