Bearcats welcome Special Olympians
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Dillon Hastings, No. 32 on the Maryville Spoofhounds Special Olympics basketball team, throws up a shot Saturday against the Trenton Dawgs.
More than 250 Special Olympians laced up their court shoes Saturday for the annual Northwest Area Basketball Tournament at Northwest Missouri State University’s Lamkin Activity Center.
More than 30 teams, including a nine-member squad made up mostly of Maryville High School students, competed in the day-long event, which included both team play and individual skills competition.
Northwest Athletics Director Mel Tjeerdsma and Assistant Athletics Director Nate Davis were both on hand to represent the Northwest Athletics Department, which has hosted the event for the past four years.
Davis, as point man for the event, pulled out all the stops for the visiting athletes, who responded by playing with a passion and intensity some would not expect given their cognitive and physical disabilities.
The big scoreboard was on in Bearcat Arena, and the Bearcat Steppers leaped and strutted during a pregame show as several hundreds spectators — parents, teacher, friends and classmates — cheered from the stands.
Area law enforcement officers and soldiers from the Missouri National Guard stood at attention in full uniform and offered crisp salutes to the athletes during a colorful opening ceremony, which included a torch run and presentation of the United States and Special Olympics flags by the Knights of Columbus.
The law enforcement community has long been a major supporter of Special Olympics, and KXCV radio’s Sam Mason, who served as announcer during Saturday’s tournament, noted that Missouri officers have raised more than $2.2 million, the seventh-highest total worldwide donated to the global organization that serves more than four million athletes.
Others helping welcome the Special Athletes to campus included the Bearcats men’s basketball team along with numerous volunteers from various Northwest fraternities and sororities.
“It’s great to see these people compete,” Tjeerdsma said. “And it’s great to put together this kind of venue for this event. Special Olympics is a great organization. They include everybody. Today is about competition, but it’s really about participation.”
The Maryville Special Olympics cheerleading squad, which embraces several employees from the NoCoMo Industries sheltered workshop, set the tone for the day with a routine performed to a recording of classic rocker John Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” the catchphrase of which is “Put me in coach. I’m ready to play the game.”
Diane Francis, a Maryville volunteer who coordinates local Special Olympics activities for high school- and college-age participants, said the annual tournament gives young people facing a variety of physical and intellectual challenges a chance to shine while experiencing acceptance and friendship.
“They get the same benefits that any youth gets from participating in sports,” Francis said. “Sports are how young people relate to one another. They learn how to work together as a team, and those are life skills, employment skills. It’s critical.”
Francis added that such benefits are not limited to the Special Olympians. Non-handicapped young people participating on the court as “unified partners” help the games flow smoothly with full participation by all players — all while learning a few lessons themselves about adversity and the will to overcome.
“I love the unified partner aspect,” Francis said. “Once you become involved with this, it’s life changing.”
She added that over the years she has come to admire the Maryville High School students who support Special Olympics, sometimes by simply offering words of encouragement to their special-needs classmates.
“They have been really supportive,” Francis said. “I want to thank them for that. It means the world.”
Davis called the annual tournament “one of the best days of the year.”
“We love having them here,” he said. “The campus and the community have really embraced this event.”
Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and provides year-round training and competition for approximately 15,500 athletes statewide. Top teams from Saturday’s tournament will go on to regional basketball competition on Feb. 28 in Kansas City.
