From league competition to community celebration, Reading’s Unified Sports program is creating friendships, building confidence, and proving that inclusion is the foundation of every successful team

Reading, MA — Over the past few weeks, Reading’s Unified Sports program has been on the move – from a league-wide jamboree to an awards banquet to a turf field packed with more than 100 athletes. Across all three events, one thing stayed the same: a community built on inclusion, encouragement, and the simple idea that everyone deserves a place on the team.

Unified Sports brings together athletes with intellectual and physical needs and their peer partners to compete side by side. “It’s just the comingling of people with and without physical impairments, intellectual impairments, and it’s the partnership between those all types of people,” head coach Tara Herlihy explained. “Your skill level wouldn’t hold you back from participating in Unified Athletics.”

Middlesex League Jamboree

On Tuesday, May 19, teams from across the Middlesex League, including Arlington, Burlington, Lexington, Melrose, Reading, Wakefield, Watertown, Wilmington, Winchester, and Woburn, gathered at Galvin Middle School in Wakefield for the league’s annual Jamboree, played under a scorching 95-degree sky. Play began both inside the gym and on the outdoor court, with a DJ taking song requests and a large crowd of parents, siblings, and grandparents cheering on their athletes.

After a first-round bye, Reading topped Wilmington, 25-13, in the second round and beat Wakefield, 15-7, in the third. But the scoreboard told only part of the story. Athletes of all abilities set each other up for shots and passes throughout the day, with teams using a shorter, ground-level hoop for athletes who couldn’t reach a standard basket. Co-ed rosters mixed boys and girls together on the same court, and the spirit between teams was hard to miss. Players from every school could be heard hyping each other up, regardless of which jersey they were wearing.

Unified Sports Banquet

The following week, on Tuesday, May 25, athletes and their families gathered in the cafeteria at Coolidge Middle School for pizza and an awards banquet honoring the program’s Fall and Spring seasons. Athletes received Varsity letters; those who attended all but two practices received a JV certificate, though every participant received a certificate marking their place in the program.

Coach Herlihy reflected on the team’s growth, telling the room she hoped players would walk away from the season proud of who they are. “Kindness is an easy choice to make,” she said, adding that the team’s culture has been to give people second chances and stick to what’s hard, even when it doesn’t come easy at first. She recalled the team’s humble beginnings – “we started as the Bad News Bears” – before crediting the program’s strong basketball players for helping turn that around. Austin Lee received the team’s Sportsmanship Award, chosen in consultation with the coaching staff.

The evening also featured speeches from students vying for next year’s captain positions, including Jack Powers, Lani McGrady, Cam O’Mara, Cole Campbell, and Isla Billingham, each sharing what the program has meant to them and why they hoped to help lead the team. Spring athletes received a new shirt before heading home for the summer.

Unified Sports Day at RMHS

The program’s biggest event of the year arrived on the morning of Friday, June 5, when Reading Memorial High School hosted Unified Sports Day on the turf field, with temperatures climbing to 88 degrees. Students from all eight of Reading’s public schools – Wood End Elementary, Killam Elementary, Birch Meadow Elementary, Joshua Eaton Elementary, Barrows Elementary, Coolidge Middle, Parker Middle, and RMHS – took part, with families setting up shade tents, water, and misting fans to keep everyone cool.

The Reading Police Department’s Honor Guard presented the colors alongside Rusty the comfort dog, while DJ Jazzy Jacob (Unified Sports team member Jacob Goldlust, who also DJ’d at Reading Pride on June 6) kept the energy high with live music. Signs bearing athletes’ names lined the fence, and a podium decorated with the RMHS Rockets logo stood at center field. Students, staff, and teachers wore matching shirts reading “Better Together,” with students in red and staff in black.

Speakers included Superintendent Dr. Tom Milaschewski, SEPAC Board member Vanessa Candelora, and School Committee member Tom Wise, who each thanked Coach Herlihy and the program’s staff for their work. Coach Herlihy noted that this year’s event brought together roughly 130 athletes for the sixth Unified Sports Day to date, with representation from every school in the district.

After the Honor Guard led athletes around the track, two Coolidge students sang the national anthem and two more read the event’s motto before the games began. Events included a rope pull, sprints, small hurdles, a rocket throw, a long jump, and a tennis ball throw. Every athlete received a medal, with teachers from each school reading off student names to recognize their participation. The day wrapped up with rainbow popsicles before students returned to their respective schools.

A culture of acceptance

Ask Coach Herlihy what she hopes players take away from the season, and the answer has little to do with the scoreboard. “I hope they always make the effort to be kind and to reach out and to realize they have the power to change the path of someone’s day,” she said. “They don’t have to wait for someone else to start.”

That mindset shapes everything about the program, from how practices run to how teammates treat each other. Herlihy said the culture of inclusion now largely runs itself. “I think the kids have learned that every friend doesn’t have to be the exact same as you,” she said. “It’s great to be open to all different types of people as your friends… that doesn’t mean you can’t hang out and be friends and enjoy each other’s company.”

For many peer partners, joining the team is itself an exercise in stepping outside their comfort zone and finding more confidence than they expected. “I think they relax once they hang with us for a little bit,” Herlihy said of first-time players nervous about not being “good enough.” “This is a place for everybody, and no one’s going to make anybody feel weird about not being great yet…we have room for everybody.”

Herlihy has watched that confidence carry over well beyond the court, describing growth in athletes’ fitness, sociability, and overall outlook. “It’s really improving their overall disposition and their mental health,” she said. “It’s good. It’s awesome.”

As the program continues to grow, now spanning three seasons at both the middle and high school levels, Herlihy hopes to bring programming to Reading’s elementary schools and to expand support so the work doesn’t fall on one coach alone. For now, though, the impact is already evident in the cheers, the friendships, and the confidence of every athlete who takes the court in a Reading Unified Sports jersey.