Spectators jump up from their seats, the large groups in maroon, white, red, and blue call out in encouragement to both teams on the court. An entire arena of fans celebrate each team and every point with the utmost amount of enthusiasm.

Ankeny High School (AHS) is known for having highly competitive sports, it’s a huge part of the school’s culture. Unified teams allow students with disabilities to be included and have a sense of belonging.

“It’s really awesome because none of the students in our unified teams would be able to play at a level that’s competitive at Ankeny because our sports programs are so great,” P.E. and Physical Education Opportunity Provided for Exceptional Learners (PEOPEL) P.E. teacher Ashely McCoy said. “So we’re just giving everybody an opportunity to compete and feel celebrated and included.”

McCoy founded both the unified soccer and unified basketball teams this year. Unified teams are different from the Special Olympics. Special Olympics events are managed through the Special Olympics of Iowa and take place during the school day, while unified teams are organized individually through the schools and function more like a school team.

Special Olympics includes track and field and bowling, which are state qualifying. Another difference is everyone in PEOPEL P.E. takes part in the Special Olympics. Unified teams are separate and provide an opportunity for students with disabilities by opening a less competitive sport option.

Unified teams are inclusive sport options

A unified team is an inclusive sport option for students with disabilities. During the game, there always has to be more students with disabilities on the court or field than peer helpers. For basketball, all five players can be students with disabilities, or it can be four and one peer helper, or three and two.

“We do the true unified team with a three and two rotation so that we can make sure everybody’s getting the ball,” McCoy said. “So our peer helpers, for basketball, they will dribble the ball down and rebound, but they don’t ever shoot. Their job is to get the ball to our kids to let them shoot.”

Peer helpers are students without disabilities who play alongside students with disabilities on the unified teams. Peer helpers can also be enrolled in PEOPEL P.E. but they don’t have to be to help with the unified team, participating is open to all students. Similarly, students in PEOPEL P.E. aren’t required to participate.

“I just love PEOPEL P.E. It makes me so excited to go to those games,” sophomore peer helper Madison Robbins said. “[The students] are always so happy, and going to these events make them so happy, and it just makes me happy.”

Students came with signs and spirit to the unified game on March 12, when Ankeny went against Ames at the Casey’s Center. Meanwhile, the peer helpers wore jerseys and joined them on the court.

“[Peer helpers] are putting in time outside of class just because they want to give back to the community and give back to these types of students that they care about, and you can tell when kids truly enjoy their time based on how they’re interacting with kids,” McCoy said.

Tournaments and games

Unified teams generally play during the halftime of varsity games if both schools have unified teams. However, there are exceptions like the game on March 12, and there are tournaments on the weekends where all the teams are unified.

“We’re going to run a soccer tournament in the spring, so I just emailed a bunch of schools,” McCoy said. “We’re just going to go by these basic 7 on 7 rules, but it’s not an official Special Olympics team.”

Last year, AHS pulled together a team for a state basketball game, and this will be the first year they have a unified soccer team. Playing during intermissions of varsity games helps the students with disabilities have a full and enthusiastic crowd when they compete.

“Generally speaking, it’s good to get out in front of the varsity crowds because everyone in our Ankeny Hawks community is super inclusive and cheers them on and it’s so loud,” McCoy said. “It’s a good time for both sides to come together and just cheer for everybody.”

This format is great to ensure the teams have an audience, and the way basketball games are structured makes it easy to fit a short unified game during their longer halftimes. Ankeny Centennial High School has had unified sports for a while now, and students at AHS are eager for more unified opportunities.

“I’ve had a lot of requests for a unified volleyball team. I think it’d be really awesome,” McCoy explained. “But the way that varsity volleyball games are structured, there’s not really a time for open court.”

Impacting students

Unified teams combine differently abled students on the same team, bridging the gap for students with disabilities to be included in the competitive, athletic atmosphere at AHS.

“I kind of feel scared when I go out there, but then when I see the other team playing, it’s just like, it’s time to go, try to lock in and try to make baskets,” junior Savannah Norwood said. “My favorite part of playing basketball is when my other teammates pass the ball to me and I shoot the threes.”

Peer helpers prioritize getting the ball to students with disabilities. Including them is their purpose on and off the court.

“I feel like everyone’s always talking about their sports, so I feel like they can include themselves in the conversations, be like, ‘I do this’ [or] ‘We won this game,’” Robbins said.

McCoy brought a program to AHS that enriches the inclusivity and culture, from the peer helpers that assist them on the court to the wild crowd that supports them in the stands. Inclusion week was March 2, and on March 6 students dressed in many shades of blue to show support for students with disabilities.

“I think the best thing that we can do for our kids of all ability levels is to have them feel included and valued and appreciated, just like everybody wants to be,” McCoy said. “[Giving] them an opportunity to be competitive and play in a sport that they love, that they’ve never been able to do, is kind of rock star status.”

This story was originally published on The Talon on March 14, 2026.