On October 24 the Sports for Life bocce ball tournament was held. According to Kay Lambert, the Teacher Specialist of adaptive physical education, “The Sports for Life program is an athletic program where students with and without disabilities form every high school in Harford County Public schools stay after school to practice athletic skills.”
Lambert coordinates all three seasons for the Sports for Life program, including bocce ball, bowling, and basketball.
North Harford students Amanda Alisea, Jessica Beckwith, Kortney Dongarra, Lena Carter, Patrick Mullen,Andrew Young participated in the tournament with Ms. Sara Testerman and Ms. Joyce Walker as coaches.They held after school practices, so the athletes could practice and perfect their skills with help from their coaches. According to Andrew Young, “We get our team back together, we get strong and get to have lots of school spirit.”
According to those who participated, our team competed against all other Harford County teams at Bel Air High School. Students from Bel Air and Harford Tech along with staff members helped set up and worked as scorekeepers and peer mentors for the students participating.
Lambert coordinates Sports for Life and works with Debbie Basler, the Supervisor of Athletics, Joe Harbert, Supervisor of Adapted Physical Education, and Susan Auston, Supervisor of Special Education, who all helped to make sure this event happened.
The Sports for Life program is “designed to combine students with and without disabilities, to build school spirit and provide social time for same age peers,” Lambert says. She adds “Every high school student should have the opportunity to participate in sports and the program is designed for students who may not have the skill set to make a JV or varsity high school team.” The Sports for life program allows for this to happen.
Their next event will be a bowling tournament held at Forest Hill Lanes on February 7 from 3-5 PM.