Mentoring through Sports: East Providence High School Unified Sports
July 5, 2022
Disability Inclusion, Youth Voice
Emma Dunn is a rising senior at Roger Williams University and is one of MENTOR’s 2022 Ambassadors. MENTOR Ambassadors are young people who work across departments at MENTOR to learn about the positive impact of the nonprofit sector and the role mentoring can play in helping young people thrive and strive. They serve as MENTOR’s youth voices across programs, campaigns, and events. Emma recently sat down with Kristen Coutoulakis, a Unified Sports Coach at East Providence High School, her alma mater.
Kristen Coutoulakis serves as the Unified Coach for both volleyball and basketball at East Providence High School. She has more than 20 years of teaching and coaching experience for various levels (college, high school, and middle level). However, she claims that she gets the most joy from coaching Unified Sports, which brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. Coutie, as her students call her, describes Unified Sports as an exciting opportunity to bring together athletes and partners with various abilities in the spirit of camaraderie and sport. She explains that this combination is a true bonding experience for all involved with the added bonus of love and support from the community and school.
Mentoring through sports can be more of an informal process; however, sports supports a plethora of relationships that are built upon teamwork, trust, and friendship. As a coach figure, Coutie describes her role as “positive and fun” and says that she is viewed as “more of a role model for participation.” Her ability to be boisterous and outgoing promotes team building and allows the players to trust her and each other.
As a coach, Coutie is a key mentor for every player on her team. She says, “As a Unified coach it is important to establish trust with my athletes; usually only reserved for parents and classroom teachers. Treating students as “equals” is key when practicing and playing sports. The students on the team have no idea that they are part of something so big! When you watch a Unified game, fans are part of both teams succeeding.”
The students are ecstatic to participate in activities together, and it was an eventful and exciting week at East Providence High School during the week that Coutie was sharing her experiences with me. The team was featured as Team of the Week on a local radio station, as well as having senior day events and a Unified Prom! The relationships between the students are cemented through shared experiences, such as these planned events.
Through Unified Sports, the students learn that not only the coach is on the sidelines is rooting for them, but so are their teammates and everyone in the bleachers who came to watch. Coutie explains that the relationships that she sees begin on the court also translate to life off the court and out of the classroom. Many of her students have invited her to off-site family events because she is viewed as part of the family. She also explains that the participants create lifelong friendships with the athletes, attending dances and other events, like Providence Bruins games, together.
Unified Sports are a truly enriching and valuable experience for everyone involved. Coutie explains, “Improving social and behavioral skills is the most important “take-away” for our athletes. Our partners, on the other hand, develop compassion and understanding regarding students with disabilities. I have seen the entire school community perspective change because of Unified Sports.”
Through Unified Sports’ teammates rely on each other and create lasting bonds that are backed in support, guidance, and friendship. This ultimately leads to the “smiles and laughter when practicing and when the athletes put their uniforms on and play.”
Are you a coach or mentor hoping to support young people as much as you can? MENTOR’s Becoming A Better Mentor: Strategies to Be There for Young People is a free resource written by experts in the field to benefit any adult looking to support young people. Full of real-world advice and evidence-based strategies, it provides mentors with tangible strategies to “be there” for young people in their various life journeys and teaches them about the core skills, key principles, and critical practices of mentoring Topics relevant to coaching include “Making Room for Fun and Play,” “Facilitating Group Interactions,” and “Goal Setting and Support.”