Basketball is about more than slam dunks and buzzer beaters for Joachim Joris. Above all, it is about respect.
The Belgian Special Olympics player not only found new friends on the court, but also the voice to empower them. He served as an assistant Unified Sports Delegate (USD) at the 2023 World Games in Berlin and joined the European Unified Experts (UNEX) Group three years ago.
Both roles share the same mission - to help improve the Unified version of the sport so that each player gets an equal opportunity to shine. Unified Sports means that players with and without intellectual disabilities play together on the same team.
Joris knew the Principle of Meaningful Involvement, the core of Unified Sports, well as a Unified basketball player, but it was only through his organisational roles that he understood and embraced it fully. It´s about giving every player a chance to play in a meaningful way.
“I've gotten a completely different perspective on basketball, as a player both within Unified and traditional. In Special Olympics, a team which is composed solely of players with intellectual disabilities is called “Traditional” opposed to Unified Sports. I was really focused on winning and I didn't understand why everyone had to play if that meant we might lose,” Joris said. “But especially thanks to my role as assistant USD, I've experienced that if you have the mindset to involve everyone more, in a meaningful way, your entire team will benefit from it.”
Having flipped his own perceptions on meaningful involvement, Joris now hopes to help other athletes make that mindset switch too.
Catching the basketball bug
Joris was not always “focused on winning” in sports. In fact, he was not interested in sports at all.
That changed in 2010 when he discovered basketball through Special Olympics. His teacher at the time suggested the idea to get him moving, so Joris joined the G-Basket Zolder club and has since competed at various national and international tournaments.
As his teacher had wanted, playing basketball helped Joris to become more fit - not to mention, an excellent three-point shooter.
“I love sports now. Before I wasn't athletic, now I really caught the sports bug,” said Joris, who also plays football with Special Olympics. “I can now say that I am a sports person.”
This transformation into an athlete brought new friends along with it as well. Joris and his teammates often meet up outside of training sessions to watch sports together or celebrate special occasions like New Year’s Eve.
“Basketball has taught me to interact with others in a social context,” Joris said of the soft skills he picked up along the way. “(It) has taught me to play together with others in a team, which is not always easy because you have to take into account the other players’ personalities and skills. You have to respect each other and encourage each other.”
After several years of playing basketball, Joris could no longer contain his passion for the sport to the court. He sought out different ways to get involved and was invited to be an assistant USD at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games alongside his teammate Valerie Geluykens.
The duo was tasked with enforcing the rules of Unified Basketball 5x5 at the Games. Joris monitored some games and was ultimately entrusted with taking charge of the final.
“I felt respected by everyone else in the observer group but also by the other officials in basketball. No one looked at me strangely and I was treated completely like one of the others,” he said of the experience. “I blossomed a bit more as a person because of it.”
To prepare for his USD role, Joris joined the UNEX Group in 2021. Made up of athletes, coaches and Special Olympics staff, this group discusses all aspects of Unified Sports, including game rules. In 2023, Joris was elected to join the group again.
“I find this a great opportunity to grow and to represent the vision of athletes within the UNEX,” Joris said. “We as athletes often do not get an explanation about why certain rules are in place, but that is important to us. That is one of the points that I really take with me to the UNEX: Involve athletes in the communication, not just coaches and Unified partners.”
“I am respected in that group when I say something. People listen.”
Meaningful involvement on the court and in the heart
As an observer at the 2023 World Games, Joris monitored the basketball action to ensure that nobody was excluded within the teams. He was vigilant about his duties, even giving a yellow card for a player dominance sanction.
While he enforced the Principle of Meaningful Involvement in games, Joris admits he initially did not understand its purpose. As a player, his focus was on winning and meaningful involvement seemed to get in the way of that.
The organisational role he had at the 2023 World Games was a turning point.
“Thanks to my role as assistant USD, I've experienced that if you have the mindset to involve everyone more, in a meaningful way, your entire team will benefit from it,” Joris said. “I'm really amazed at how players and teams have evolved and gotten better during the World Games, not by playing more with their best players but by giving everyone a meaningful role in the team.”
Joris’ biggest goal now is to improve communication between coaches, partners and athletes so that athletes not only feel obligated to follow the rules of meaningful involvement, but also understand why these rules are beneficial. He also aims to help align the rules across different Unified Sports so that they follow the same principles.
His positive experiences at the World Games and the UNEX Group have given Joris the confidence to seek new ways to be involved in Unified Basketball. Among them, as an assistant coach. He started in this position two years ago.
“I've gained more self-confidence thanks to Special Olympics, and thanks to my role as assistant USD and UNEX member,” Joris said. “That's where I really learned: I deserve respect, so does everyone else.”
