North Jefferson News, Gardendale, AL

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  • Shaun Kendall, a coach and teacher at Fultondale High School, coaches student Matthew Bayliss during the Special Olympics Basketball tournament. Nathan Prewett

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February 8, 2012

Students hit court for Special Olympics

By Nathan Prewett North Jefferson News

On Thursday, exceptional education students from Alabama’s many schools gathered for Special Olympics basketball tournaments.

The tournaments were held at Birmingham-Southern College for various middle and high schools in Alabama.

Some of the local schools playing in the games were Corner, Gardendale and a team that was a combination of Clay Chalkville and Fultondale students. Others included schools from Bottenfield, Rudd, Birmingham and Mount Brook.

Special education students in the games at Birmingham Southern played in teams representing the schools that they attend. The young players wore distinctive colors on the court, their shirts and vests bearing shades of light and dark blue, yellow, purple and red.

Competing teams played for the chance to go to the State Special Olympics tournament. By the end of the game, Clay-Chalkville/Fultondale and Bottenfield were both eligible for the state finals.  

When the Bottenfield team won its game, the court resonated with whoops and delighted cheers. Their elation was joined by friends and teachers that watched from the seats.

“Special Olympics in Jefferson County has been actively going on for many years,” said John Morgan, an adapted physical education teacher who attended the game. “This gives the student an opportunity to go out and be in a tournament where they might not have had an opportunity to play in high school or junior high athletics.”

Morgan works with the Jefferson County school system as it sends itinerant teachers to special education classes in different schools and organize not only sports, but dances and other activities as well.

Morgan is one of four adapted physical education teachers who work with disabled students. Alongside him were Pam Rush, Jimmy Matlock and Laura Rickman, who all helped organized the tournaments at Birmingham Southern.

“I had anxiety since it was my first time there,” said Rickman, a physical education teacher and former Mortimer Jordan High School softball coach. “But seeing the smiles on their faces — it was just overwhelming. It’s all about them. We want to make these events about them.”

Special Olympics basketball provides a chance for students with mental and physical disabilities to take part in sporting events for the public.

The Special Olympics not only holds events for basketball but also for cycling, snowboarding, soccer, open-water swimming, softball, tennis, volleyball and a myriad of other sports.

The Special Olympics started in 1968, with financial backing from Eunice Shriver, sister of John F., Robert and Ted Kennedy. The first national games were held that year at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

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