{"id":78072,"date":"2020-03-10T05:10:04","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T09:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=78072"},"modified":"2020-03-12T07:23:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T11:23:36","slug":"unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the first time, enough students are participating for the Owego Apalachin Central School District to field two unified basketball teams for the upcoming spring season. Unified basketball is designed to be inclusive, allowing students with developmental disabilities to team up with general education students and compete against similar teams from schools around the Southern Tier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are a lot of benefits for the program. It provides students with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to play team sports for their school. It builds relationships between the kids, promotes social and emotional health and provides all the positives of high school sports,\u201d said Koren Rubino, Owego Apalachan middle school physical education teacher and coordinator for unified basketball for the district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unified
Members of the 2020 Owego Apalachin Central School District unified basketball team sign their letters of intent for the upcoming season. Unified basketball is designed to be inclusive so that students from general\u00a0education can play with students with intellectual disabilities. Provided photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now in its third year in existence, Rubino said that the program has finally become popular enough to field two separate teams after starting with 16 students in the first year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s grown and garnered a lot of support, created opportunities for students and for me as an adult,\u201d Rubino said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact on the district has been clear, with students participating in spring sports regularly showing up for unified basketball games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s become a focus during our spring season for athletes, and really helps develop the school community and helps promote positive school culture,\u201d Rubino said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubino added that staff and parents have been very involved as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the first time we have had two teams, and it means a lot to us that our students are participating and supporting this program along with parents, the community and staff members. And the fact that it has grown really shows how much our school is inclusive of all our students and supportive of all sports,\u201d Rubino added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By having general education students and students with developmental disabilities playing together, they inherently become more accepting of people and their differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt teaches students how to be a team, teaches acceptance, sportsmanship, coping skills, physical skills, and connects them with adult mentors,\u201d Rubino said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another change for this year, Rubino said that during home games that the district\u2019s cheerleading squad would cheer on the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd the cheerleaders will also include students with intellectual disabilities,\u201d Rubino said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first practice for the upcoming season is fast approaching on April 14, but the schedule isn\u2019t out yet as participating districts tally up how many teams will be needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome districts have to split into two teams because you want to make sure that everyone gets playing time,\u201d Rubino said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time, enough students are participating for the Owego Apalachin Central School District to field two unified basketball teams for the upcoming spring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":78074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUnified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the first time, enough students are participating for the Owego Apalachin Central School District to field two unified basketball teams for the upcoming spring...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-10T09:10:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-12T11:23:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1994\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/\",\"name\":\"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-10T09:10:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-12T11:23:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1994,\"caption\":\"Unified basketball offers opportunities for all skills and abilities. Provided photo.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"For the first time, enough students are participating for the Owego Apalachin Central School District to field two unified basketball teams for the upcoming spring...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2020-03-10T09:10:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-12T11:23:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1994,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/","name":"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-03-10T09:10:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-12T11:23:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/03\/Unified2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1994,"caption":"Unified basketball offers opportunities for all skills and abilities. Provided photo."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2020\/03\/10\/unified-basketball-is-helping-develop-the-school-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unified basketball is helping develop the school community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}