NASHVILLE, TN − State Rep. Ronnie Glynn welcomed the state champion Kenwood High School Unified Bowling team to the state Capitol last week for a special presentation.
Unified Sports programs allow people with and without intellectual disabilities to play sports together on the same to promote social inclusion and understanding. Glynn presented the team with a special proclamation, and they received a standing ovation from the lawmakers.
Glynn met one of the coaches, Kellie Piche-Tatro, at a community hockey game where she told him about the team’s success. Last year was the first year Tennessee offered unified sports. In the Kenwood Knights’ first season, coaches Melissa Suss and Piche-Tatro led the team to victory in the sectionals competition and the No. 2 seed in the state tournament, where they placed fourth. This year, the team repeated their sectional win, this time moving into the state tournament as the No. 1 seed. They went on to win the TSSAA Unified State championship, becoming the first school in Montgomery County to win a state championship, traditional or unified.
Rep. Glynn said, “This group of young men are special. They have worked together to matter their challenges and continue to lay the groundwork to make sports inclusive for all.”
Team members are Matthew Walls, Jerome Asbury, Sebastian Kelly, Karlos Ransom ll, Elijah Farrior, and DaSean McFerrin.