Coach Lelansky said the team had 11 returning athletes including Seniors River Cummings, Andrea Thibeault, Bradley Parker, Sophia Kaufman, Alison Walker, Josh Martin, and Michaela Taiani; Juniors Niko Gagne, Brett Barney, Brice Lyon, and Sophomore Zach Paradis. The returning players were excited to welcome Juniors Jenna Parker, Andrew Farr, Courtney Rent, Landon Bickford, Emma Stevens, and Anna Provost; along with Freshman Dylan Taiani, Landen Paradis, and Julia Wareham. Lelansky shared, “We have 3 sets of siblings on our team which is pretty cool.” (Dylan & Michaela, Jenna & Bradley and Landen & Zach)

This season, Unified teams like all other sports across the state, had rules to follow in order to play. “The biggest restrictions were everybody had to wear a mask at all times and no fans were allowed. Having no fans definitely changed the experience but our team was still able to embrace the season and make the best of it,” Lelansky said. Fortunately for fans, all games were live-streamed so they didn’t miss one minute of the action.

Andrea Thibault and Josh Martin are seniors and in their last seasons of GHS Unified Basketball. Thibault said, “My favorite part was being out on the court with my friends and getting a season and also being able to be with my favorite coaches and a memorable part was being able to get my senior flower from my coach.”

Martin said one of the most memorable parts of this year’s Unified Basketball was that he got to meet new people that he didn’t know from last year. “To be honest, I love trying new things and Unified was like that a year ago for me to say I want to come back! It does stink to not have fans there at games but they still showed us support. They would watch our games on a live stream, they would make awesome signs, even though we

are separated, we still showed support for one another,” he said. One of his favorite parts of the season was seeing all the students with mental and physical disabilities have a smile on their face when they scored a bucket for Gorham! Another favorite part for Josh was just having fun. He said he did a lot of rec basketball but unfortunately, he didn’t really enjoy it. “My junior year came and I said, let me give this a shot, and Unified basketball changed the way I see basketball nowadays, you have fun, you make friends, you can support one another, a teammate and/ or an opponent. Overall, I had a great time playing for the Gorham Unified Rams!” he shared.

Jenna Parker has played her first season with Unified basketball. “Although I have only been involved in one season I have known these athletes for a couple years because of my brother. Unified impacts the athletes in so many ways. Unified gives them a sense of being on a team and what it is like to compete with friends,” Parker stated. She enjoys that the athletes are always so happy to get on the court and they get excited to hear their name called out after they score a basket. “As a sibling it brought lots of happiness to me to see my brother and his friends have such a great time. I also loved seeing them make new friends outside of their classroom and do something that had them step out of their comfort zone. Unified was an amazing experience and I can’t wait for the next season,” she said.

The Unified basketball team had their last game on April 1st against South Portland. While their season was shorter than past seasons, the athletes still enjoyed their time on the court, seeing old friends and making a few new friends too. For more information on Unified sports, you can visit Special Olympics Maine’s website.