Unified Soccer Championships held at Northeast High School
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was a wonderful day on the pitch for some Philadelphia students.
On Tuesday, the Unified Soccer Championships were held at Northeast High School.
CBS Philadelphia's Pat Gallen hosted the event at his alma mater.
The event was also hosted by the Special Olympics and attracted teams from all over the city.
"For the kids out here this is the World Cup," Chris Jones, the head coach of the Fels High School unified team, said.
It was a special day for some special athletes.
At Northeast High School, athletes from across the city took part in the Philadelphia Interscholastic Unified Soccer Championship.
Inclusive teams have trained all year for this moment.
"Unified soccer is when you have students with disabilities and students without disabilities play on the same team together. Practice together, compete together as equal peers. Gonna try to win the city title, Pat, you know how competition is. They're eager to take the title back to their school," Mike Bovino, the senior advisor of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, said.
Fourteen teams took part in the championship, with nine taking part in the competitive division.
Five teams participated in the player development division, where the gen-ed students act as an on-field coach for the special education athletes.
"It's such a cool experience, man. Just the sportsmanship, the camaraderie. It's just awesome. It's a great experience for the kids, for everyone really," Jones said. "They're pumped, we're on the stadium. We're on the turf, it's just awesome for them."
Jones also preaches the importance of bringing people together with diverse backgrounds.
"You see kids in school not during soccer practice, shaking hands in the hallways, saying hello to each other at breakfast or lunch. And those are relationships that wouldn't happen without this program," Jones said. "Very diverse Lot of South American students, from Africa, Haiti. French Creole, Arabic, all kinds of languages. But the universal language for all of them is soccer."
Fels star Llicia Gibson couldn't wipe the smile off her face after a big win.
She said the most fun part of the soccer championships was playing with her friends and scoring a goal. She even ended the interview with a high-five and a "Go Fels!"
