The Gorham High School (GHS) Unified basketball team is set to begin its 2020 season on January 28 at South Portland. Coached by Eric Lelansky, the team has 10 returning players: Seniors Brian Edwards, Kate Tugman, Iris Kitchen and Noah Jalbert; Juniors River Cummings, Andrea Thibeault, Michaela Taiani and Alison Walker; and Sophomores Niko Gagne and Brice Lyon. The team welcomes newcomers Cole Nadeau, Ivan Jonk, Sophia Minchev, Brett Barney, Prodige Lohomboli, Bradley Parker, Sophia Kaufman, Zachary Paradis, Tatiana Jonk and Josh Martin. Joining Lelansky on the bench as student coaches this season are Jordan Bretton, Jacqui Hamilton and Abe Tabachnick.
A Unified team allows student athletes with developmental disabilities to experience what it is like to play alongside non-varsity partners without developmental disabilities. It impacts all students and helps promote physical activity, teamwork, sportsmanship, and social inclusion. GHS is going into its third season with a Unified team.
Photo credit Amanda Landry Photography Returning members of the GHS Unified team include (top to bottom) Andrea Thibeault, Brian Edwards, Niko Gagne and River Cummings.Iris Kitchen became a partner last season after being approached by Thomas Nelson (GHS ’19), who helped bring Unified basketball to Gorham. Kitchen said she is looking forward to creating tight bonds with the new members this year, and furthering her relationships with the veterans of the program.
“My favorite part of Unified is seeing the happiness and sheer accomplishment on the athletes’ faces after they shoot or complete a good pass. And selfishly it creates a feeling of warmth and satisfaction because you know that you helped create that feeling of joy,” she said.
As the 2020 season gets started, a recent decision was made by the Maine Principals Association (MPA) to suspend playoffs in the Unified basketball program for the next two years. That decision came after receiving feedback that the playoffs were becoming more competitive than the league was intended to be. Coaches, athletic directors and the MPA were in agreement with the decision.
Lelansky is also on board saying, “My personal opinion is that it is a good thing that they did away with the playoffs as I feel that competitive nature of some of the games was taking away from the enjoyment and true purpose of Unified sports. Our team has chosen the non-competitive route during our first two years and that has worked very well for us.”
Lelansky was not surprised by the move after hearing the negative feedback from fans and coaches. He hopes the playoff format will be reviewed during the two-year break so improvements can be made.
The GHS Unified team encourages fans to come out and cheer them on. There is no charge for the games and crowd participation is always appreciated. Andrea Thibeault, a junior on the team said, “I’m looking forward to making some shots and helping some of the new players get some shots in. Also, I’m excited to travel and play at some of the other schools!”
Kitchen said she will miss the athletes when she leaves for college but hopes that on her breaks she will catch a few games and cheer on all the athletes and future mentors. “I am excited to see what happens with the program and how it will evolve into something hopefully larger than basketball and possibly branch out to other sports or activities. The union of athletes and mentors is a truly symbiotic relationship,” she said.