By Dan Messerschmidt
CCN Sports Director

There was a basketball game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium Friday evening.

The game included layups, 3-point shots and even dunks, like the hundreds of games that have been played there over the years.

But this game was very different from those other games. This one consisted of a blend of players from the six high schools in Crawford County and the Waycraft Chargers.

The event was sponsored by the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities in conjunction with a Bucyrus High School and athletic director Rick Rawson.

The participants in the basketball game that came from the county high schools were each assigned a disability that they had to deal with while playing the game.

This event and others were planned to raise public awareness of developmental disabilities, according to Kimberly Kent, Director of Community Services for the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

“March is Disabilities Awareness Month,” Kent said. “We had a coloring contest for second graders, a poster contest for middle schoolers, adults tried a disability and the high school kids played basketball (with a disability).”

Fourteen players from the regular high school teams — boys and girls — participated. Izzy Burling, Derek Heinlen and Kade Slagle, from Bucyrus, Kevin Hughett and Sierra Richardson from Wynford, Max Loy and Jenna Karl from Buckeye Central, Lydia Strauss, Kari Teglovic and Harley Shaum from Colonel Crawford, Lydia Tadda and Zach Gregory from Crestline and Alexis Chaplin and Colten Skaggs from Galion.

Disabilities that were assigned included Tourette’s syndrome, muscular dystrophy, macular degeneration, fetal alcohol syndrome, traumatic brain injury, Huntington’s disease, hearing loss and cerebral palsy.

“It was hard because I had a hard time dribbling with my right hand and it was hard to run,” Teglovic, whose disability was fetal alcohol syndrome, said. “The best part playing with new people and playing with the special needs kids.”

Teglovic echoed the sentiments of nearly all the players from the regular teams.

Jeremiah Gale, who plays for the Waycraft Chargers, flashed his basketball skills by knocking down a couple of 3s and entertained the crowd at halftime by breakdancing to the music of the Bucyrus High School pep band.

The red team defeated the gray team, 52-44, but that was incidental to the night’s proceedings. All came away as winners and with a much better appreciation of others’ limitations.

The evening was summed up best by Court Sturts, Superintendent of the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

“Part of this is to focus on their abilities rather than their disabilities,” Sturts said.

There was no charge to watch the game, but canned goods were collected at the door, there was a concession stand and cans for collecting voluntary monetary contributions.

The canned goods will be forwarded to Community Action and the funds raised will go to the Special Olympics.