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By Ian Gustafson

All abilities

St. Lorenzo Middle School introduces Unified Sports program

Oct 3, 2025 | 1:52 PM

St. Lorenzo Middle School, which is part of the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division, has launched its new Unified Sports program.

With the support of Special Olympics Red Deer, the new initiative aims to foster inclusion, teamwork, and school pride. It’s set to be an environment where students of all abilities can participate.

Principal Rob Coumont said they wanted to bring this program to the school because, as an inclusion practice, they think it’s awesome.

They made the announcement at a pep rally on Friday at the school.

“All of our students have the opportunity, whether they’re in specialized programming or mainstream programming, to be able to work together towards a goal,” he said. “Also, the idea of our students in our foundations and blended programs really being a part of a team and learning all of those skills associated with being on a team and teamwork, we see as super beneficial to our students.”

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The program has already been introduced in multiple high schools in Red Deer, including Notre Dame, Lindsay Thurber, and Hunting Hills.

St. Lorenzo is the first middle school to announce they’ve adopted the program.

Katie Justason and Haley Stuart, who are in charge of running the program along with two others, said it’s been amazing to be a part of so far.

“I feel like it’s a needed program in our school, so it’s nice that it’s a program that mainstream can join in as well as our students to bring our community together as a whole,” Stuart said.

With no official start date set to begin competing, they hope to have intramural practices start in a couple of weeks, and they’ll build their teams from there.

Some of the sports include three-on-three basketball, floor ball, floor curling, track and field, bocce ball, and cornhole.

Moving forward, it will run in two different seasons, one that begins in September and another in January. The sports available will vary from season to season.

The blended and foundation students will be able to join the team if they want to, as well as the mainstream students, if they come to the intramurals.

They’ll compete against each other as well as against other middle schools in the city and from Calgary and Edmonton.

“I think it will give them a really good sense of community. I feel like our students really need that community for themselves personally. Getting them involved in something that is a school activity kind of gives them that purpose to be on a team and be included,” Stuart added.

Justafson said it also allows the kids in the specialized programs to form relationships with the rest of the school. Kids in the specialized programs (blended and foundations) have disabilities and complex communication needs.

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Head coach of the Notre Dame High School Unified Sports program, Alison Snow, said they began their program four years ago.

Since then, she’s seen it grow into something special.

“What we see is our own students, who’ve never been a part of a school team before, excel in our program. Their infectious joy that comes from being a part of something is incredible,” she said.