In conjunction with Special Olympics of Southern California, OGP cares hosted its inaugural Unified basketball clinic for more than 100 special and general education students, this clinic is designed to focus on skill development and teamwork. The clinic is geared towards recognizing the athletes participating in unified basketball and providing them with some with some added excitement following their spring season and compete as teammates. The clinic featured students from Westminster High School, LaQuinta High School, and Oceanview High School, as well as their local admin and students who brought the energy and support from these local Orange County schools.
“As an organization, this is something that OGP Cares is excited to be behind,” said Justin Williams, senior director of OGP Cares. “To see the interaction between general-ed students and life-skills students on the court, and seeing how that carried over to the scrimmages, was a great example of building a positive community at each and every school.”
The students learned teamwork, as well as had the opportunity to have fun and develop bonds and friendships that will last long after this event.
The clinic was led by Coaches from the Open Gym Youth Basketball program. The coaches lead a variety of drills that focus on dribbling, agility, shooting, passing and more. Students of all abilities were able to participate together and share in a fun atmosphere that encouraged friendship, inclusion, and mutual respect.
“OGP Cares hopes to turn this inaugural event into an annual event and grow it to more schools and involve hundreds of more students” said Williams.
