Unconditional strength: Newest Wareham High School team builds muscle and confidence

The Wareham High School Unified Strength and Conditioning team is the school's latest addition to the athletics program. The team gives kids with special needs the opportunity to get stronger, spend time with friends and realize what they are capable of.

The team is coached by Wareham Middle and High School's occupational therapist Marybeth Kiernan. Kiernan also helps with the high school's Unified Basketball and Track teams. She said that the addition of Unified Strength and Conditioning allows students with special needs to be three sport varsity athletes for the first time in the high school's history.

Adding the sport to the unified athletics department was important to Kiernan because she said she wanted kids to have a way to stay active in between basketball and track season.

"My goal was to help kids create healthy lives and I accomplished that," Kiernan said. "Also the ability to be with the kids twice a week was great."

The team did not just give kids an opportunity to be healthy, Kiernan said they excelled at it. At the conclusion of their nine week season, the Vikings were the number one ranked unified strength and conditioning team in the state.

The strength and conditioning competitions looked different than most other sports. Kiernan explained that the team began by recording baseline measurements for various exercises, such as hallway runs and wall sits. She tracked each student's progress over time and reported the results to Special Olympics, which ranked teams based on their overall improvement.

"When we first started I would have kids run in the hallway and most of them walked but by the end of it, most of them ran the entire way," Kiernan said. "I also increased the number of times they did it so they were running for longer periods of time."

The ranking at the end of the season was not the only success. Kiernan said many kids experienced near unprecedented levels of growth and gained confidence throughout their nine weeks together.

"I would be handing out weights and the kids would say 'I can't do this it's too heavy' and within no time at all they were doing things they didn't think they could do," Kiernan said. "Some of them hold a plank for a minute and they never thought they would be able to do that. They learned how to do hard things and keep going."

Bill and Shelly Mobilia saw a lot of physical growth for their son Bryson, who was diagnosed with low muscle tone.

"He's slimming down and it's also calmed him down," Bill said. "It's always been difficult to go for a walk or go hiking because of his low muscle tone so this has been a huge help."

Lexi Marcosa is the personal care assistant for 16-year-old Michael Clemens and she noticed both physical growth and improvements to his mental well being.

"Michael stands up straighter and he's a lot looser when he walks," said Lexi Marcosa, the personal care assistant for 16-year-old Michael Clemens. "Seeing him come home and have this big smile on his face is wonderful for his overall well being."

Helping kids improve their mental well being is something Kiernan said she wanted to accomplish but because many of these kids play basketball, run track and have grown up together, it came naturally.

"There's lots of cheering, lots of 'come on you can do it,'" Kiernan said.

Alton McCane is one of the team's captains and has been a leader in the unified sports program for a number of years. He said that his favorite moments from throughout the season have been helping his teammates and cheering them on.

"I am proud of all of my teammates because they worked so hard during the season," McCane said.