On Friday the 8th, Legacy and Northglenn came together for our first Unified Basketball Game of the year. Students dressed in black and yellow to support our players during the exhilarating event while the players had a terrific time.  

Trevor Guerra of Northglenn High School, #32, scored the first basket of the evening. From there, enthusiastic cheers for both sides filled the game, consistent up until the very end.

Legacy was behind Northglenn a few baskets throughout the event, but by the end of the third quarter, it was a tight game. Each team struggled for first place until #21, Brandon Chau of LHS, scored the final basket as the clock ticked down to zero. This put Legacy ahead by 2 points with an ending score of 60 to 58.

However, not only are kids in Legacy’s Special Ed program brought together, but also the Legacy community. “It’s amazing the amount of student support we get at Legacy. It really shows that, no matter what’s going on, we have students…that come to support these kids,” says Katie Kinch, a StuGo student who helped plan the event. “It’s the most amazing thing to watch.”

The Legacy side of the gym was packed. The band played at intervals and students were screaming at every play. Sport teams such as Track and Boys Baseball came—even though Track had to leave halfway through while Boys Baseball arrived halfway through.

However, the arguably best thing about this event is the confidence it gives the players.

“You saw it today—the kids make a basket, everyone cheers them on. Again, these kids don’t get as much opportunity as other students do. So it’s nice to see them come out, have a little teamwork, and make some baskets,” says Mrs. Welch, one of the school’s coaches.

Students won’t be forgetting about this game anytime soon, and it’s safe to say that the teams won’t either. Thank you for everyone’s hard work in planning and participation in this event. However, so much can still be done for these students.

“It would be great if we had more things like this,” says Kinch. “We only do two home Unified Basketballs [every year], and I think that if we did year-round Unified Basketball, and sports…I think that would be amazing.”

Colorado High School Activities Association now offers Special Olympics Bowling—it seems that more Unified Sports could be headed your way.

Also make sure to check out the POMs performance during the game, starring Jordan Ruibal and Maddie Hart at https://lightningletter.com/1938/video/unified-poms/.

Congratulations to our Unified Players!

All photos courtesy of Anna Hartwick

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