Sports program is ‘the very best of who we are’

Moorestown’s fourth annual Unified Sports 2025 Awards Banquet was held earlier this month at The Venue at Lenola, where the program’s athletes, coaching and support staff were honored alongside family, friends and the community.

“This program brings students of all abilities together and they don’t just share that on the court, but they build trust and relationships and joy,” said School Superintendent Dr. Courtney McNeely. “It gives all of us a glimpse of what education is truly meant to be.”

Unified Sports is an inclusive program that brings together Special Olympics athletes who do not identify with a disability for the purpose of teamwork and competition. Unified is also a community advancing the importance of neurodiversity and inclusion in the community.

“Since I’ve come to Moorestown, I’ve been talking a great deal about our legacy of excellence,” McNeely noted, “and I want to say clearly and proudly that Unified Sports is a foundational element of that legacy. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful examples of what excellence can look like when we define it by how we treat people, not just how we perform.

“The secret to excellence is that it’s not only about achievement,” she added. “It’s about access and opportunity. It’s about building school culture where every student feels valued, respected and included.”

Moorestown High School (MHS) has four Unified Sports programs that include soccer (coaches Alyson Darrow, Anne Furlong and Shawn Fitzpatrick), basketball (coaches Amy O’Connor, Bill Kelly and Tom Lawless), bowling (coaches Margaret Nissen, Alyson Darrow and Ann Furlong) and track (coaches Rebecca Russo, Ann Furlong, Tom Lawless and Julie Shawaryn). Next year, flag football will be added to the lineup.

In addition to the coaches, there are several paraprofessionals – including Jessical Staub, Deb Cirenza, Rohan Bhattachanya, Sandy Casparro and Colleen Wolfram – who volunteer to support the athletes.

“In our first year – which was 10 years ago – we had a single team that was driven by a passionate group of students and dedicated coaches who believe in the power of inclusion, and their spirit and enthusiasm laid the foundation for what we have today,” recalled Dr. David Tate, director of special education.

“We get a lot of magic from Unified Sports and I’m so excited that we will continue this experience for years to come.”

The Unified Sports Scholarship is awarded to an athlete who shows a commitment to Unified Sports, demonstrates leadership with teammates on and off the playing fields and embodies a positive spirit around inclusion. Coaches nominate athletes from the various Unified Sports teams according to the criteria, and selections are made by the scholarship committee.

This year’s Unified Sports scholarship recipients are Daniel O’Donnell, Luke Barton and Luke Holmgren.

O’Donnell has played Unified soccer and basketball for six years, and bowling and track and field for five. He has participated in the Unified Soccer Cup for several years, as well as the Unified Basketball Tournament. Barton was a Unified Athlete at MHS for five years, playing soccer, basketball and track. His athletic abilities and teamwork helped lead his teams to multiple Unified Cup Tournaments for soccer and win two basketball state championships.

Barton has also played on multiple Special Olympics teams, and for the past two years has played for the professional Unified Soccer team, the New York Red Bulls and against traveling Unified soccer teams. Holmgren is a four-year, two season Unified Athlete, playing soccer and basketball. He shows leadership by always doing the right thing, always modeling inclusion and being a true friend to all.

“The students who take part in Unified Sports are not only athletes,” McNeely said, “they’re advocates, they’re leaders and they’re models for what inclusion, empathy and kindness look like in action. They remind us that success, in school and in life, is about much more than tests and trophies, it’s about showing up for one another and creating space where every person’s voice matters.

Tonight, we’re not just closing out a season; we’re doing something more. We’re celebrating the very best of who we are and we’re lifting a program that will continue to shape what it means to build schools and communities grounded in purpose and love.”

Many of the program’s alumni and their families wanted to give back and honor Unified Sports with a special scholarship, given to a Unified athlete who has changed the game. This year’s Unified Sports Game Changer Scholarship went to Barton. While he’s passionate about competing, Barton is unyielding in his sense of fairness and compassion. This year as he transitioned from high school to RCBC, he stepped up as an assistant coach for the Unified Basketball team, where he encouraged, taught and cheered on his teammates and friends. His coaches describe him as competitive, athletic, determined, friendly, kind-hearted, compassionate, accepting and an outstanding role model to many.

“My soccer coach, Alyson Darrow, nominated me to try out for the New York Red Bulls professional Unified team last year and this year. I, along with some amazing Unified athletes, play on the professional Red Bulls team and it’s a great way to show the world what Unified athletes are made of,” Barton said. “This year we’re playing in Austin, Texas, and a match against a Japanese team. That would not have happened without my high school unified experience and I’m grateful. I also think that my journey as a Unified athlete has prepared me for college. Thank you to my coaches and to the younger athletes in the room, remember, you can be anything you want to be.”

This year’s four-sport athlete awards went to Victoria Able; Caden Arnold; Aaron Carlyle; Griffin Dunne; Ben Hanafy; John Humes; Jules Law; Emma Pedersen; Blake Rouen; and JP Tenelanda. Graduating seniors in the program are Able; Law; Arnold; Pederson; James Hilton; Rouen; Ani Thiede; Landon Anstey; Lizzie Arthur; Paul Canton; Rafe Cultrara; Holmgren; Andrew Leese; Rebecca Mann; Jessica McBride; Isabelle McCloud; Elias Namey; Karli Omlor; Blake Richards; Dylan Rothenberg; Madeleine Steene; Erica Tenelanda; Abigail Williams; and Addison Wydra.

“Unified sports continues to change the mindset about what it means to be a community. A strong, connected community of passionate parents, students, teachers and advocates,” said co-chair Amy Barton (along with Lisa O’Donnell and Linda Humes). “Let’s keep challenging our peers, our schools, our administration, even our families, and let’s keep making change so that every student feels respected for exactly who they are and has the opportunity to be included in sports.

To the students who make the choice to play as a special Olympics Unified athlete in addition to their freshman, JV and Varsity sports and activities – you, along with your teammates, are the future leaders of our community and our world. You are the partners who will be making change for your generation and ensure diversity and inclusion are top of mind.”