Inclusive Sports

Special Olympics Unified Sports® programming is an intentional, organized approach to inclusive sports, initiated in the United States and practiced worldwide. It is a key component of the Unified Champion Schools® (SOUCS) program, which aims to make sports inclusive by having youth with and without intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD) train and play on the same team. The goal is to pave a path to developing friendships and understanding others by participating in sports and leadership activities together, through a variety of sports available at each school, including bowling, track and field, swimming, and pickleball.

Special Olympics officially launched Unified Sports in 1989. Two decades later, it was combined with initiatives in inclusive youth leadership and whole school engagement to form SOUCS. Unified Sports are played in more than 4,500 schools in the United States and also at universities, according to a 2023 research article by Amy Accardo and colleagues (doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-11.1.23)

The U.S. program is supported by federal education funding. A number of other organizations, including the Lions Clubs International Foundation, support both the U.S. and international implementation of SOUCS.

Inclusion

The mission of SOUCS, including Unified Sports, is the inclusion of children and youth with IDD. In the United States, we have struggled with inclusion in education settings by teaching in segregated spaces and having different programming and instruction for students with and without disabilities. This has restricted social opportunities and students’ sense of belonging. Unlike in countries that have ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and treat inclusive education as a fundamental human right for every child with a disability, according to a 2017 article by Broderick and Quinlivan (z.umn.edu/391-rt1), the U.S. education system is still guided by separate laws for special and general education. The degree of inclusion of students with disabilities is determined by the principle of the least restrictive environment (LRE) as dictated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Unified Sports’ mission is to break these barriers of historically segregated education systems by pairing youth with and without IDD on sports teams where they practice and compete together. It is a concrete and motivating way for youth to get to know each other’s strengths and challenges, as well as their interests, sense of humor, and what makes them happy and excited in a safe space.

Evaluation

To make this inclusive initiative known as a true champion for inclusion, it is important to demonstrate its positive effects on several inclusion indicators (e.g., physical – inclusive environments; instructional – differentiated instruction; social – friendships across abilities; and psychological – sense of belonging).

The impact of Unified Sports on inclusion outcomes has been evaluated by a number of U.S. and international researchers. An evaluation by Karen Castagno (doi:10.1123/apaq.18.2.193) of a Unified Sports male basketball program in one U.S. state showed significant improvement in friendship activities for both youth with and without IDD.

In a qualitative study conducted with five countries, Roy McConkey and colleagues found that participation of youth with and without IDD on football and basketball teams led to their increased sense of social inclusion by sharing their experiences during preparation for play and play itself (doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2012.01587). The authors emphasized the mutual benefit of reciprocity present during Unified Sports activities that is often absent from other initiatives aimed at inclusion.

In a 2023 systematic mixed-methods review (quantitative and qualitative), Amy Accardo and colleagues made several seminal findings about the Unified Sports program and its impact on the inclusion of youth with disabilities (doi/full/10.1352/2326-6988-11.1.23). The nine studies Accardo and colleagues reviewed were conducted between 2001 and 2019 across nine countries, including in the United States, and examined mostly male athletes’ participation in Unified basketball, football, and soccer. The review included the McConkey and Accardo studies. The findings affirmed the overall benefit of participating in Unified Sports, from developing and sustaining friendships to building healthier relationships. Methodologically, the authors pointed out the lack of research capturing the voice of youth with disabilities themselves.

As can be seen from the summary of evaluation and research on the Unified Sports program focused on the outcomes of inclusion, there is a lot of work to be done to fill the gap both quantitatively and qualitatively. Almost four decades have passed since the program’s inception, and only a handful of studies have been conducted; so, the replicability of the findings is limited. To reflect the evolution of the program and the settings in which it is being implemented, the evaluation of outcomes of inclusion, and social inclusion specifically, needs to expand to be able to address a sense of belonging, gender equity, diversity of sports, and diversity of methods used in future studies, making sure the voice of youth, especially those with intellectual disabilities, is heard.

The University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration has undertaken a national evaluation of SOUCS, including Unified Sports (ICI, 2026). We designed the evaluation as a rigorous mixed-methods study, using quantitative surveys/scales, focus groups, and qualitative interviews to collect data from youth with and without IDD. We also included students from schools not implementing SOUCS for comparison. The study aimed to fill gaps in the limited evaluation studies on SOUCS in general and in the absence of the voice of youth with and without disabilities in particular. The first phase of the study included a total of 204 students (83 with disabilities and 61 without). While there were more males among youth with disabilities, there were more females among student partners.

With respect to Unified Sports, we found that inclusive sports activities are still the most popular among the three areas of SOUCS (the others are inclusive youth leadership and whole-school engagement). Youth with and without IDD reported taking part in Unified Sports, followed by wholeschool engagement, Unified Club, and Unified PE activities. The most frequently attended activities by both groups of participants were Unified Sports and Unified PE. In the first phase of the study, we examined the outcomes of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, self-determination capacities, and school belongingness, thereby expanding the concept of inclusion typically assessed in previous studies.

Early trends from the first phase of SEL, school belongingness, and self-determination suggest that SOUCS have the potential to serve as a valuable context for fostering these competencies through inclusive, relationship-building experiences. The current evaluation adds knowledge regarding trends in how SEL outcomes, school belongingness, and self-determination differ based on gender. Female students scored significantly higher than their male counterparts on three of the five SEL subdomains: self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship skills, while they scored significantly lower than male students on their feelings of school belonging. As part of Unified Sports, participating schools and students engaged in a variety of sports beyond football and basketball, including track, bocce ball, cornhole, bowling, volleyball, floor hockey, and soccer.

The first phase of this ICI-based study is already contributing important knowledge on inclusion through Unified Sports as part of the SOUCS by relying on student voice, taking into account gender differences, and working with schools and students engaged in a greater variety of sports.

Implications and Future Direction

Given that Unified Sports began in 1989, it is important to know how it is supporting and improving the lives of youth with and without IDD within the context of their schools and communities. Existing evaluation studies have provided a foundation to highlight the benefits to social inclusion, specifically SEL, school belongingness, and self-determination. Overall, the number, scope, and reach of those studies are very limited. Unified Sports is one of the most powerful strategies for facilitating inclusion for children and youth with IDD, and should therefore maximize this strategy to learn more about its potential to affect inclusion and adapt the program based on the findings to reach as many students as possible and refine the program to address multiple aspects of inclusion. This is especially important now, as societies are rapidly evolving with technological advancements, including robotics and artificial intelligence, and as systems are trapped in tumultuous situations due to wars and natural disasters. Evaluating Unified Sports activities across diverse contexts and situations can help us understand which components and dosages of activities make the biggest difference in inclusion outcomes.

Unified Sports can serve as an important, evidence-based strategy that improves inclusion outcomes of youth with and without IDD, creating more inclusive education systems worldwide.

Because U.S. special education law does not mandate inclusion of children and youth with IDD, many educators and policymakers are working to incorporate an inclusion mandate in the next reauthorization of IDEA. It would follow the principles of the CRPD. Unified Sports can serve as an important, evidence-based strategy that improves inclusion outcomes of youth with and without IDD, creating more inclusive education systems worldwide.

Recommendations

Unified Sports initiatives have shown promise in including students with IDD in global sports programs alongside their peers and promoting their feeling of inclusiveness, as demonstrated by the existing studies. To speak more clearly and convincingly about their ability to create a more inclusive education and community culture, university and community-based evaluation teams must conduct more rigorous, diverse-method studies that incorporate a louder student voice and gender differences across multiple sports in varied geographic areas.