WILL KARR
Editor in Chief
Front Left to Right: Garrison Gagnon, Ethan Pitzman and Justin Guelph.
Backrow Right to Left: Brendan Dempsey and Jake Murphy.
All photos by KAYLA Welsh | Sports Photographer.
While SUNY Fredonia athletes are usually the ones playing on-campus sporting events. Last week, on Thursday April 27, the Athletics Department hosted its first-ever Unified Basketball game in Dods Hall between Dunkirk and Fredonia high schools.
“I brought up the idea of hosting a unified game in a leadership team meeting in February and it seemed to catch on,” said Jerry Fisk, director of Athletics.
Fisk and men’s head varsity soccer coach PJ Gondek are both high school referees. Each year, the pair referee unified games in the spring and Fisk said that they are always some of their favorite games to ref. Fisk and Gondek collaborated with the two high school athletic directors and unified coaches to plan the event.
“Unified sports pair athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team,” Gondek said. “ Hundreds of Fredonia State student-athletes for the various athletic teams turned out to support and cheer on the unified athletes … roars from the crowd could be heard with every basket made.”
Fisk said that many of Fredonia’s athletics teams and athletes helped out with running the event.
“Coaches spoke with their teams about attending and the attendance was great and everyone was engaged,” Fisk said. “The men’s soccer team played a big role on game day– helping to hand out pizza, tear down after the event and [with] anything else that came up.”
Dunkirk ended up defeating Fredonia 28-24. Fisk said that the Athletics Department is looking forward to hosting more unified games in upcoming semesters and years.
“While this was our first unified game, it won’t be the last,” Fisk said. “Universally, the coaches, student-athletes and other attendees had a great time. The gym was electric and everyone had fun.”
