New program levels playing field for disabled
BY DANIELLE MEDINA Correspondent

BRICK TOWNSHIP - In a new sports league slated to kick off in September, it isn't winning or losing that counts, but playing the game that matters the most.

The Ocean/Monmouth County High School Challenger League will allow students with physical and mental disabilities to represent their respective schools by participating in organized sports.

"The goal is to provide opportunities not only through sports but socialization for the most challenged students in the high schools," said the program's founder Joseph DiPietro, an assistant principal at Southern Regional High School, Manahawkin.

What makes the program unique is that each Challenger League participant will have a regular education varsity student athlete serve as a buddy and mentor, he said.

Because the program is imbedded in their high schools, students will wear school jerseys that resemble the uniforms of the varsity teams and play on the same fields as their regular education peers.

Although Challenger leagues are all over the country, the idea of a high school league is the first of its kind in the country, DiPietro said.

"It really is a win-win for all students," said Ocean County Council Parent Teacher Association President and Brick resident Catherine Lindenbaum. "The Challenger students get the opportunity to represent their schools, and their parents get the chance to root for them from the stands. Varsity athletes get the opportunity for community service in something they enjoy."

Challenger students will be able to participate in flag football and soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring, mirroring regular athletic seasons.

All teams will be co-ed and the games will be played on Saturdays or Sundays and won't interfere with the schedules off the regular athletic teams.

Brenda Calderone, a Brick resident and president of the Brick Township Special Education Parent Teacher Association, said that the league provides an outlet for high school special education students where none currently exists.

"These are children who wouldn't be able to handle the demands and focus that competitive sports in high school requires - emotionally, physically or socially," Calderone said. "To be able to wear a uniform, travel to another school and compete against other children while interacting with their typical education peers is something we're always striving for in special education."

Nine school districts throughout Ocean County have signed on for the league's inaugural season.

Students from Brick Township High School and Brick Township Memorial High School will have the opportunity to compete against their peers from eleven other schools - Barnegat High School, Central Regional High School, Jackson Memorial High School, Jackson Liberty High School, Lakewood High School, Pinelands Regional High School, Point Pleasant Borough High School, Southern Regional High School and Toms River High School East, North and South.

DiPietro estimates that the program will impact 20 to 25 Challenger students and 50 to 100 buddies per school.

"It really is a great opportunity for all of our kids to develop relationships through sports that isn't easy to do on a day to day basis in school," Brick Township High School Principal Dennis Filippone said. "It will really foster a sense of community. Joe DiPietro really had a great idea."

DiPietro, who is the autistic program coordinator at Southern Regional, said that he came up with the idea for the league after trying to find social and recreational opportunities for disabled students to participate in.

"There was nothing in our municipality," said DiPietro, a former assistant principal at Brick Township High School. "I had experience with the Challenger League when I was in Brick at B-MAC (Brick Municipal Alliance Committee)."

DiPietro said he approached members of the Ocean County Council Parent Teacher Association, who lent their full support to the idea.

"It is a novel concept that takes a lot of coordination to implement," said DiPietro. "Individuals and groups have to buy in to it."