Sports are a vital part of American culture. Americans everywhere are brought together by these special events and are able to learn numerous valuable lessons through these experiences. Playing a sport or being a part of a team is a special opportunity that not everyone gets to enjoy. However, Champions Together exists to help make this possible. According to SoIndiana.org, “Champions Together is a collaborative partnership between the Indiana High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics Indiana that promotes servant leadership among students with and without intellectual disabilities aimed at empowering a generation of students to change their school culture to be more socially inclusive.” Here at Lewis Cass, Champions Together is a significant extracurricular program that many students take part in. Throughout the course of the year, our Champions Together program holds three clinics (track, basketball, and tennis); the basketball clinic was held this past month. This clinic brought immense enjoyment and entertainment to the school and went off without a hitch!
Each Champions Together clinic and activity takes a lot of prepping and planning to make it successful. As the sponsor of this club, Mrs. Rush takes on the majority of this organization with the help of a few student leaders, and the added help of special education teacher, Mrs. Ingram, this year. This year’s basketball clinic leaders were seniors Aftin Griffin, Ava Hubner, Trey Johnson, Brennan Deeter, and Brody Hillis. These senior leaders took charge and majorly contributed to the success of this event. Brody Hillis stated that through his experience with Champions Together, he has “learned how to organize an event and how to communicate to everyone involved to keep us on the same page.” Brody and his fellow leaders did a great job of this, as the event was well organized and went smoothly.
The basketball fun began Friday at 1:00 on Friday, March 13. All Champions Together participants made their way down to the gym to get the action started. For all of our Champions Together events here at Cass, each high school student club member is paired with a Champions Together student participant as their “partner” for the day. The connections made between these pairs are very special and are just one component that makes these events exceptional. Once everyone had found their partner, the real excitement commenced. Both gyms were full of basketball activity (high school participants were in the main gym with elementary participants in the auxiliary gym), and the cafeteria housed the cheerleaders.
In the gyms, the basketball players went through a series of stations where they covered various basketball skills. These stations included ball-handling, passing, defense, and shooting. The participants honed their skills through these stations in preparation for the big game that was to come. The players also participated in relays for some extra fun and practice. While the basketball gyms were bumping, the cafeteria was full of spirit as the cheerleaders were also perfecting their cheers and chants. The girls started by making supportive posters for some of the star players who would be featured in the day’s game. The cheerleaders were able to talk and have fun while decorating these posters in support of their fellow classmates. Next, the cheerleaders learned their halftime routine, led by senior cheerleaders Lexi Alford and Liberty Preston. The girls danced to Better When I’m Dancing by Megan Trainor and spent time practicing and perfecting their performance for the remainder of their allotted practice time.
At around 2:00, everyone, not just those participating in the clinic, but the entire school, filled the main gym. The stands were packed with enthusiastic students, and the players were pumped to get started. The game festivities were complete with team introductions, the halftime show performed by the cheerleaders, and boisterous cheers. The teams competed for a full four quarters of action and showed off their basketball abilities. When the game concluded, the participants were able to spend some time congratulating each other and celebrating the completion of the event. The excitement was infectious, and it turned out to be a very successful clinic. When asked what her favorite part of the clinic was, junior Champions Together member, Bekah Birkey, stated, “My favorite part of this year’s basketball clinic was seeing the kids work hard and most importantly enjoy the event the high schoolers worked so hard on putting together!”
Overall, this year’s basketball clinic was nothing short of amazing and went very smoothly. All of the hard work and preparation paid off to result in a rather successful event. It is clear that every Champions Together clinic is an inclusive, action-packed event that brings happiness to everyone involved. “I love how everyone feels included, the joy and smiles that I see on everyone’s faces, from the members participating to the students watching and cheering,” stated Mrs. Rush. This joy that Mrs. Rush speaks of is sure to return this spring, during the tennis clinic, where the Kings will be champions together once again.
From the sidelines to the headlines, this is Lauren, signing out.
