March Madness Continues in April!
by Jim Russell
One April 17th Mother
Catherine
Spaldinng
School (MCSS) in
Helen Maryland hosted
a team of St. Mary's
County
Special
Olympics
basketball
players
in
the
inaugural
Special
Olympics Awareness
game. Principal Linda
Miedzinski made the
offer as a community
outreach project for the
school, but is was so
much more. It was an
evening full of great
fun, comradery, incredible friendship, and tremendous sportsmanship. All proceeds from
donations and food sales during the game were donated to Special Olympics. What a
wonderful evening of fun and competition it was. The evening started with a prayer by
MCSS athelete Mekala ?? followed by Special Olympics athlete's oath recited by Kyle
Russell followed by an enthusiastic "Let the Games begin!" led by Tyeshia Holt. The
Russell/Becker Special Olympics high school team of 9 played with a mix of 12?? MCSS
boys and girls basketball team members that were recruited by MCS boy coach Jeff
Gray. Two teams were assembled from all the participants. Special Olympics coach
Brett Russell and friend Trey Williams refereed the game. Four 8-minute quarters were
played with the MCSS cheerleading squad cheering on both teams with cheers specially
altered for the night's event. After the game was complete, the teams and spectators
were having so much fun that they played another 10-minute quarter. After the game,
Special Olympics and MCS athletes exchanged a gift of friendship with each other.
When asked, Coach Dale Becker had this to say about
the evening's event. "I had a awesome time. I'm so
thankful that MCS invited us to play. Looking forward to
doing it again. MCSS has some excellent players. They
were polite, courteous and accepting of our athletes. I
hope that this game makes people aware of our abilities
and sees what makes it a joy and privilege to be a part of
volunteering for special Olympics. I consider MCS a
extended part of our special Olympic family."
One of the MCSS mothers relayed this, “On the way
home from the game she commented to her son about
what an impact he had on the Special Olympics athletes.
He responded that the Special Olympics athletes had a
bigger impact on him.
Linda was ecstatic with the
the evening and said, “What
makes this [evening] so
special is the joy from all the
athletes, the smiles; the
high fives and an 8th grade
boy hugging a Special
Olympic player as he stated
this was a great time. So
with that being said, we at
MCS/MCA look forward to
joining together for our next
annual basketball game.
This is what making a
difference and reaching out
to others means.” [MCS will
be transitioning to an independent Catholic school in the coming school year and will be
named Mother Catherine Academy (MCA).]
This highlights that people of "Different Abilities" are so important to our community and
as Linda so eloquently put it, “In the big picture, we are all the same as children of God.”
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