SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — SU student David Bulan, who has ADHD, doesn’t only love to get active at the gym, he’s also a member of the unified basketball team and is the student manager for the men’s club basketball team. He’s always keeping close with the game he loves.
“My dad taught me the game,” Bulan said. “I always loved basketball and my dad was always my coach. Now I’m here in college where he went in ’93.”
As student manager for club basketball, Bulan has helped to bridge the gap between the club and unified teams. His friendship with Oz Elad, the club team’s president, has been the catalyst for this change. The club team now spends time with the unified team, hosting practices and taking the team through drills. Unified sports evolved under the Special Olympics umbrella, with the goal of bringing athletes from all backgrounds together.
“I have disabilities,” Bulan said. “I started [unified sports] six years ago when I was in high school I started. Now I play here every Sunday.”
Having ADHD hasn’t ever been a barrier for Bulan to overcome, and basketball has been a big reason for that. His work with the club team has led to eye-opening experiences for those involved.
“[Bulan] kind of opened my eyes to what unified sports is really about,” Elad said. “I never really paid attention to the world of unified sports because I was never exposed to it.”
Seeing the passion that the unified team plays with left Elad with a renewed love for the game.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Unified basketball brings athletes together over the love of the game
Nate Polite: Most days, you can find David Bulan here, at the Barnes Center. Getting in some runs with classmates, teammates, and anyone else that shows up, playing the game he loves.
David Bulan: My dad taught me the game, I always loved basketball and my dad was always my coach. Now I’m here in college where he went in ’93.
Polite: But it’s more than just open runs that get Bulan going. He also plays for Syracuse’s unified basketball team and is the student manager for the SU club basketball team, and he introduced much of the team to the world of unified sports.
Oz Elad: He kind of opened my eyes to what unified sports really is all about.
Polite: Elad and Bulan have become close friends since they met on the court. Bulan even invited Elad to come to Buffalo to meet his family and catch a Bills game last fall.
Bulan: To me, he’s like a brother to me. He means the world to me, so we talk every day. He gives me advice to get better each day.
Polite: Building friendship through sport is one of the primary goals of the unified program at Syracuse, allowing student athletes from all backgrounds to bond over their love for the games that they play. Bulan has ADHD, but that’s never something that he’s let stand in the way.
Bulan: I have special- disabilities. So, I started six years ago when I was in high school I started. Now I play here every Sunday.
Polite: While some might think that unified sports are just for students with intellectual disabilities, athletes and coaches want everyone to know that they’re exactly who its for, everybody.
Nick Miceli: The goal of unified sports is to be inclusive, right? Everyone on one unified team. We’re the spot where everyone comes to play together, and I think that’s what’s really important is that we’ve got neurotypical and neurodivergent athletes all on the same team, all on the same court.
Polite: Miceli didn’t play basketball in high school before jumping in with the unified team, but many of the athletes have been around unified sports for some time.
Omarion Austin: In high school, I was part of a basketball team, it was involved with Special Olympics.
Polite: Unified sports exists through the Special Olympics as a means to promote inclusion, something that Elad says was eye-opening.
Elad: I never really paid attention to the world of unified sports because I was never exposed to it.
Polite: Being exposed to unified sports helped renew Elad’s love for the game.
Elad: Kind of just shows you the purity of the game at all levels and to me that’s the most incredible thing that anything sports related can do for someone, and I think that there’s not enough avenues in sports right now where it is just about the love of the game.
Polite: A love that’s contagious to everyone in the gym. In Syracuse, Nate Polite, NCC News.
“[It] kind of just shows you the purity of the game at all levels and to me that’s the most incredible thing that anything sports related can do for someone, and I think that there’s not enough avenues in sports right now where it is just about the love of the game,” Elad said.
That friendship between Elad and Bulan has grown so strong that Bulan invited Elad to Buffalo to meet his family and go to a Bills game last fall.
“He’s like a brother to me. He means the world to me, so we talk every day. He gives me advice to get better each day,” Bulan said.
Their relationship epitomizes what unified sports is all about: creating an inclusive and neurodiverse environment.
Nick Miceli is the coach of Syracuse’s unified team. He started as a player when he was a freshman without ever having played high school basketball, but he says that’s part of what makes unified so special.
“We’re the spot where everyone comes to play together,” Miceli said. “I think that’s what’s really important is that we’ve got neurotypical and neurodivergent athletes all on the same team, all on the same court.
One court, one team, one goal. Unified basketball is bringing athletes from everywhere together.
