I am in my second year of volunteer coaching for the Wahconah Regional High School Unified Track team. We are 50+ strong this year and we are the current reining Western Mass Champions and the State runner-up for division 1. What makes this experience exceptional for me is not the winning but what unified sports represents. It is an opportunity for students with and without physical and intellectual disabilities to compete in varsity sports. If you have never been to a unified sports event, you are missing out. I wish I could put into words what I feel but it is challenging. I will say this if you want to understand what dignity is and what it looks like it is present in unified sports.
I have never been involved in anything like this. Everyone feels included, accepted for who they are, and they have the freedom to be themselves. It is a place where you can feel safe and not be judged. I have found a place where I find peace and joy just being around these amazing young people. Unified sports are one of the reasons my son Anthony is the leader he is today. It is why I accept with pride the title coach Anthony’s dad.
We had our first track meet at Mt Greylock High School. It was Wahconah, Pittsfield high and Mt. Greylock. What a great day to compete. These kids never gave up. No matter their disability it did not stop them from completing the task. We all want to win but for these kids the winning comes in doing better than you did the last time. I used to be a runner, and I know how hard it is now try it with crutches or a wheelchair. For some of these kids just walking or staying focused can be a challenge but still with encouragement they finish the race or complete the throw. I am in awe of these athletes.
There are days when I get stuck and caught up in the messiness of the world. There are times I want to throw my hands up and say I quit. Being around the Wahconah Unified team gives me strenght to move forward and to never give up. They help me more than I help them. I learn from them every practice I attend and every competition I am present at. They are my heroes.
The reason I am writting this today is to say thank you to my team the Wahconah Unified Track Warriors. Thank you for accepting me as your coach. Thank you for showing me what dignity means. You are the light in a world that can seem cold and dark sometimes. If everyone could spend just a little time with you, they would see what I see. How beautiful life can be when we can come together with all our differences with one goal and that is to honor and live in dignity.
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Christopher Reeve
Charles Redd RN
Dignity Freedom Fighter
Dignity Freedom Fighter 