UNC and Duke teams compete in Special Olympics basketball tournament in Chapel Hill – CBS17.com

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) While Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill will meet up in the Final Four, another group of Duke and UNC athletes are also competing.

Students from both schools competed in the Special Olympics basketball tournament Saturday at East Chapel Hill High School.

Its the first time the event has been held since before the COVID-19 pandemic and the teams were excited to compete again.

Special Olympics Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team to promote social inclusion through shared sports experiences. Unified teams are made up of people of similar age and abilities.

ESPN has served as the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports since 2013.

Special Olympics College Clubs function as an official student organization on campus and are led by students with and without intellectual disabilities. Many clubs also allow Special Olympics athletes from the community to participate as athlete leaders.

Members of Special Olympics College Clubs gain experiences participating in Unified Sports and hosting Special Olympics events, thus creating opportunities for the inclusion of people with and without intellectual disabilities in the campus community.

Elise Tuzo, who is the UNC Special Olympics College Club President, talked about how important the event is for everyone.

This is our rivalry series, our basketball game against Duke. And this specifically today is really exciting because its our first time bringing the rivalry back since the pandemic and everything. And, yeah, its a really great time we get to have unified teams from both schools come together and keep the rivalry alive, Tuzo said.

The UNC team will also be going to the USA Games in June and theyre planning on participating in other activities this year.

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UNC and Duke teams compete in Special Olympics basketball tournament in Chapel Hill - CBS17.com