The Newtown High School Unified Sports soccer team competed this fall, participating in a pair of games against the Wildcats of Bethel. The Blue Heat hosted the Wildcats at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 19. Newtown’s Blue Heat came out strong with a day of fun, teamwork, and participation on their home turf that kicked off with Will Eaglesch giving the Unified Oath and his teammate, Patrick Risert, lighting the Unified torch.

Outstanding performances from athletes Jessie Viesta and Jordan D’Amico gave the Nighthawks many goals throughout all four quarters, while D’Amico, Viesta, and Reisert kept the Wildcats on their toes as goalkeepers. NHS’s Mary Jo Taweh and Maddie Rose both tallied four goals in this first game.

Equipped with masks, both teams displayed great sportsmanship as they were able to keep their traditional halftime dance party socially distant and give air-high fives at the conclusion of a match at Blue & Gold Stadium in October. NHS coaches have done their best to ensure the games remain as normal as possible in order to capture the essence of Unified sports.

“Doing Unified through COVID brings the sense of normalcy that we have and being able to participate with your friends and still see your friends even through having a mask on still means a lot to both them and us. I think it is good that we are still getting out even with masks and stuff,” NHS senior partner, Sophia Bajcer, said.

The Blue Heat has a new head coach, Lou Santoli, who is really happy to be a part of Newtown. Santoli has coached before in Connecticut and New York, and is also a first-year Special Education teacher at NHS.

“I’ve been coaching for about 12 years now. I coached varsity football down in New York and some girls’ lacrosse, but this is just a totally different, great experience. The athletes are fantastic, they work hard everyday, day in and day out, and it is just awesome to be a part of Newtown now,” Santoli said.

Santoli is working hard with his fellow coaches to provide a safe space that allows the partners and athletes to still have a great time playing together.

“It is a little trickier but everybody is working together and everybody has been fantastic. The athletes and partners and the assistants have all been trying to maintain that distance. We are getting the most out of it that we can and we are having fun everyday,” Santoli said.

Newtown High School has been recognized as a Unified Champion School, selected by the Special Olympics committee from the hundreds of schools nationwide that applied.