At the annual Area 23 Special Olympics Basketball Tourney was held on January 13 in the Plymouth High School gymnasium, the All-Stars and Star Bursts competed first, which resulted in an All-Stars victory and the Super Stars were able to gain a win over the Shooting Stars in the second game of the night.
Established in 1968, Special Olympics is organized into regions within states. The Special Olympics Area 23 program is based in Wayne County excluding Detroit.
Special Olympics is an international program that provides opportunities for athletes with disabilities to participate in sports. The basketball tournament held at P-CEP is one of many sporting events held throughout Michigan. Hockey, skiing and weightlifting are just few sports offered by other organizers throughout the state.
Although score is kept during the game, winning isn’t necessarily the main priority, Derek Hoffman, Plymouth counselor, said. “It’s more about giving them that experience, you know, and having that awesome, positive, memorable night, rather than, ‘Oh, we lost the game.’”
Hoffman, advisor for the PHS Student Council Class of 2025, organized the event at P-CEP. “When I took over the student council when they were freshmen [in 2021], they said we had to do volunteer projects. Their sophomore year, we went to a Special Olympics track meet. We had 30 kids there, and it was pretty cool. But we were like, senior year, let’s go all out.”
The Special Olympics program’s primary goal is to promote inclusion and foster a supportive community for its participants. “It makes them feel like they’re part of things, rather than an outsider.”
The members of the Special Olympics team have formed a community along the way, even seeing each other outside of games and practices, said Hoffman.
“These [participants] have opportunities to do anything and everything.”
