BUCYRUS — Two weeks ago, Buckeye Central guard Sydney Wurm was playing in the Division IV state tournament at the University of Dayton.
Friday night, Wurm was playing again and smiling the entire time.
The junior joined 10 other county high school basketball players to participate in the third annual Crawford County High School-Crawford County Chargers Special Olympics Unified Basketball Exhibition at Bucyrus High School.
And there were smiles all the way around.
Wurm said that, as soon as she heard about the game, she wanted to come and play.
“I just like connecting with other kids and when I heard about this, I said, ‘Hey, this is something fun. I get to meet new people and, who knows? I can still be friends with these people later on.’
“It’s been a lot of fun,” she added. “All of the people this year have good energy and we’re all smiling and having a good time, cheering each other on, and it just keeps our energy going.”
The two teams were a mix of high school players and Special Olympics players, and fun was had by all in front of a large crowd.
“We bring high school students from the high schools all around the county and intertwine them and include them in the game with my Special Olympics players,” Kelly Hufford, Coordinator for Crawford, and Morrow County Special Olympics, said.
“We split them up, so we have Special Olympics players on both teams, along with high school players. It’s a great exhibition game. We have a lot of fun,”
“It’s been a lot of fun,” she added. “All of the people this year have good energy and we’re all smiling and having a good time, cheering each other on, and it just keeps our energy going.”
Court Sturts, Superintendent of the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said that March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month and this year’s theme is the “Power of Inclusion.”
“Our goal is to have people with developmental disabilities fully included in the community. So, when we mix Special Olympics athletes with varsity players from high school, and they play together, that’s our goal,” Sturts said.
“We believe people with all disabilities have abilities. And focusing on the disability, you want to look at the abilities. Being able to have both Special Olympics and high school varsity athletes playing together, that’s just a symbol of what we want to see in society from birth to the end of life.”
The 11 Crawford County athletes who participated in the game are Eddie Dagher and Karmyn Blizzard, Bucyrus; Maddie Coffman, Wynford; Kaylyn Risner, Colonel Crawford; Connor Lusk and Kennedi Sipes, Crestline; Jaxon Oswald, Natalee Perkins, and Cooper Kent, Galion; and Wurm and Drew Rose, Buckeye Central.
Joining the athletes on the floor were Special Olympian athletes Allen Burkhart, Monroe Harris, Jamie Noe, Danny Shambaugh, Ashley Taylor, Jon Edmonson, Kim Meyer, Christian Olmstead, Bethany Shirkey, and Tammy Tyree.
“We actually ask the (high school) athletes if they want to participate,” Hufford said. “In the years that I’ve been here, they all want to participate. Some years we have more players than other years. This year, we had 11, but a couple couldn’t participate for illness reasons. But they’re all here. They’re here to have fun.”
All the high school athletes were smiling as they played. And they made sure that their Special Olympian teammates saw the basketball a great deal.
“(Former Galion coach) Colby (Bright) takes a lot of pride in picking out the athletes for this,” Hufford said. “He asks the athletic directors and the coaches for a group of kids who are willing to come over and be a part of this exhibition and they usually don’t have any problem finding anyone to participate and they come out and they are really surprised at how well the Special Olympics athletes are and how well they play.”
Risner said that, when she was asked to play, she jumped at the chance.
“(David) Sheldon came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play in it because our boys are playing in the all-star game tonight,” Risner said. “This is something I’ve been to and watched my friends play in it. I just wanted to come and play and have some fun. This is probably the last time I will be on the basketball court.
“I actually know some of the girls on the team, so it makes it a little better coming in here,” Risner added. “I was afraid I wouldn’t know anybody so having some of the girls here makes it better.”
During the evening, there were a number of fundraisers and Hufford said that event raises a lot of money for the Chargers.
“It’s been a huge success, actually,” Hufford said. “The funds that are brought in from the 50/50, this year we’re doing the throw for dough and the extra money from the tee-shirt sales and concession sales all go to Special Olympics right here in Crawford County.
“That money is used to buy new uniforms, to buy new equipment, pay for the referees, the umpires. For our softball season.”
The Bucyrus pep band performed, and Aimee Ward did a fine job singing the national anthem. Also, the Chargers’ pep squad of Angel Davis, Deb Dunbar, Terry Ekleberry, Melody Fulton, Kendra Keesee, Makayla Register, Olivia Smithey, and coach Becky Stephens, were on hand to provide color.
The game itself was secondary to the evening’s events. The black team downed the gray team, 61-41. Special Olympian Bethany Shirkey led the black with 13 points. Crestline’s Lusk dropped 20.
Lusk said that playing in the game was a great deal of fun.
“The environment and the people,” Lusk said. “I wanted to highlight awareness because this is the month for that. Come out here and play with them. I had fun, a blast out here and I’ll miss them.
“I had a great time in this game, and I hope everyone else did, too.”
You can bet they did.