BUCYRUS — Crawford County high school athletes got a taste of what life would be like if they had to deal with a disability.
Two basketball players from each of the six county schools — one boy and one girl — teamed up with the Crawford County Chargers Special Olympics team to play the second annual Unified Basketball Exhibition in Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium at Bucyrus High School.
The basketball game is one of several of events that the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities uses to keep those needing assistance in the consciousness of the local population according to CCBDD superintendent Court Sturts.
“March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and we try to hit all age groups for the county,” Sturts said. “We have a second-grade coloring contest which an individual with disabilities created the drawing (for) that they color. And we have a middle school poster competition and Ohio Mutual judges those.”
During the basketball game, each of the 12 high school players had to simulate a disability while playing. Disabilities included such things as Tourette syndrome, cerebral palsy, hearing loss and epilepsy.
All the high school players got to summarize their experience after the game and to a person had eyes opened and respect for what their counterparts from the Special Olympics had to deal with daily.
Despite that, the kids with disabilities displayed exceptional basketball skills, especially shooting the ball.
“That always surprises (the high school kids),” Sturts said. “We have a meet the team night on Tuesday before the game. The high school kids come out and are kind of hesitant to give it their all.
“When it came down to it, with the ball game on the line, they were out to win it and the Special Olympics kids hung right in there, making some big shots down the stretch, right along with these guys.”
Other community members got involved in giving those with disabilities the spotlight for the month.
“We have a Try on a Disability Day,” Sturts said. “Fifteen (community) members, elected officials, business members and people throughout the community, tried on a disability for a half day and went out to three private providers in the community.”
Entrants to the basketball game were not charged admission but were asked to make a monetary donation or one of a non-perishable food or hygiene product. There was also a concession stand, a 50-50 and a T-shirt sale.
“That money goes back to the Special Olympics, our uniforms, fees and travel expenses,” Sturts said. “We’re starting a food pantry for anyone in the county that we serve that might need food. We don’t make any money on it. We try to do fund raisers.”
The game drew a sizeable crowd and Sturts wants to see it become a regular event.
“We bring quite a good crowd,” Sturts said. “This year, we added cheerleaders and that was a good section. The (Bucyrus) pep band was here. It brings a lot of people together. We’d like this to continue.”
More than raising money, Sturts wants theses events to raise awareness.
“We try to increase awareness, we try to go for community involvement,” Sturts said. “Our goal is that folks with disabilities are members of the community just like you and I are.”
The final score was 52-46 with the gray team defeating the red team, but no one cared about the outcome.
“I heard some of the high school players quotes about the Special Olympics players,” Sturts said. “Their unselfishness, their smiles, their positive attitudes made it a fun game to play. If everybody understood that I think there would be a lot more acceptance and integration in the community.”