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On March 28, the Delta Center stadium surrounded the team while playing for the state championship. The athletes remained calm, cool, and collected while only down a few points.
Pacing back and forth with her hands over her eyes stood Special Ed teacher Cami Christensen at the end of the court.
As the game-winning basket was made, the stadium erupted with cheers and excitement for both teams. As high fives were exchanged between the players, each of them maintained the smiles on their face, the outcome was only a small part of a well fought game.
NS’s Unified Basketball team recently competed in the state competition, taking first place and putting up a tough fight against Grantsville.
The athletes got to participate in a long time NS community tradition of welcoming the state champions back into town with firetrucks, ambulances, and police car sirens blaring from Fairview to NS. Citizens waved and cheered as the bus drove by.
Throughout the game courage and bravery was focused on from the beginning. As emphasized by First Lady Abby Cox, being “brave in the act” was what the athletes should be centered on. Of course each team wanted to win, but what was more important was the good sportsmanship shown in every part of the game. Sportsmanship was another key feature the Unified Sports program aims to focus on.
“Compassion and empathy play into athletics as well,” unified basketball coach Halli Bennett said. “We have some incredible athletes who would step back to let an athlete from the other team score for the first time in the game and seeing that kind of compassion in an athletic competitive way was really beautiful.”
Throughout the basketball season, the coaches have noticed a change in confidence on and off the court. Walking by the SPED (Special Ed) classroom various “hellos,” fist bumps, and high fives are commonly seen and heard as students walk by.
“The confidence that I’ve seen them emulate has been really beautiful,” Bennett said. “and just like holding their head a little bit higher. I’ve noticed that they’ve been saying hi to more kids in the halls and on the other side of that I’ve seen more kids saying hi to them and congratulating them.”
Feeling seen and heard are important aspects in any high schooler’s life, and as the unified program provided at NS continues to grow, so does the SPED community. Advisors have noticed a difference in the numbers of students reaching out to congratulate and connect with the SPED students.
“It just made another stepping stone to not have that division in their world,” Christensen said. “My kids have an unconditional love that nobody else has, that nobody else shows, and I get that everyday. I just want everybody to realize they just want friends, they want to love you, they want to be your friend, and once they know you and realize that you’re willing to talk to them or be part of their life, you’ll hear your name down the hall forevermore when they see you.”
