As I took attendance on the first day of practice, I had no idea what to expect from my team. I had volunteered to be a coach for Unified Basketball at Forest Grove High School, but I had no prior experience with Unified Sports or coaching. Unified Sports is a subsidiary of the Special Olympics, and pairs Special Olympic athletes (athletes with intellectual disabilities) with partners (athletes without intellectual disabilities) on the same team. My team was made up of 4 boys and 7 girls, ranging from 10th-12th grade, with 5 athletes and 6 partners.
Throughout the first few practices, I got a feel for the skill level of my players. While their basketball skills weren’t necessarily turning any heads, I was amazed at the attitudes of all the kids. My athletes were full of enthusiasm, and my partners were patient and caring.
We worked on their basketball skills through games and drills at practice, and the chemistry continued to improve each day. We drew up a few plays for offense and developed an impenetrable zone defense. By the time of our first game, I was already extremely proud of the progress my team had made.
We got off to a hot start, winning our first few games. I sensed a lot of potential after seeing my team play, and I made a bargain with them before our first tournament, at FGHS in mid-January. I told them if they won first place, I would grow out a mustache and wear suits to the rest of our games. My assistant coach agreed to do the same. The team responded and wound up taking first place in their pool. The more games we played (especially after winning), the more excited my players got about coming to practice and gearing up for games. We came up with an awesome team name, The Grovetrotters, and continued having fun every time we got together, especially when the players saw their coaches rocking suits and ties and silly mustaches.
The Unified basketball program has fantastic participation at FGHS; there is enough interest among the students that there are multiple teams. My team and I shared a practice gym with a fellow Unified team called the Dark Knights, and we developed a fun rivalry through games and competitions every week. In fact, we only lost two games all season, and one of those losses was to another FGHS team!
I had six seniors on my team, so for our last home game of the season there was a special “Senior Night” that honored them and their commitment to the program. We had our largest crowd of the year, dressed up in the theme of superheroes. When it came time to take the court, the lights were dimmed, the announcer came on the PA system and announced all the starters, and the players ran through a human tunnel made up of all the fans and coaches. It was a really cool moment.
After our last practice of the season, we had a little awards banquet with pizza and other snacks and refreshments. We handed out team pictures, watched a cool slide show of the season, and the team gave me cookies, pictures, and a hand-painted coach’s clipboard with my name on it. I was so proud to have been a part of such a great program and a great group of kids.
A week later, it was time for the end-of-season Unified Basketball district tournament in Beaverton, Oregon. I knew the GroveTrotters were good enough to win first place. All of my players—athletes and partners alike—had made noticeable improvements in their game since our first day of practice. Their confidence and enthusiasm were contagious. We made it to the championship game of the tournament, and it came down to the final minute! One of my female athletes made a jump shot with about 30 seconds left to give us the lead, and the defense held on to give the GroveTrotters the championship! It was an awesome end to an awesome season.
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