Swish! The crowd goes wild. The coaches, players, and spectators cheer as the ball goes through the net, giving the team two points. There are many of these points scored from the post, from the elbow, and even by someone who dunks the ball through the net. There are many of these points and many of these games as the day goes on, and winners advance to the championship game.

However, this is not any game, or any tournament, or any weekend. This is the Special Olympics.

The Special Olympics was hosted right here at FHC last Saturday. Teams from all over the county came to participate, including some fellow Spartans. There were different game settings from the traditional full court 5 on 5 to half court 3 on 3. The event was not just all about sports, though. Opportunities went beyond the basketball court for the athletes with STUCO also putting up a “Victor’s Village,” which was composed of several booths with carnival games where athletes had the chance to win tickets that could later be cashed in for prizes. The task of holding the event involved many of the school’s organizations including STUCO, NHS, and girls and boys basketball.

The newness of the event and the fact that it had never been done before at FHC brought some initial fears to volunteers like senior Shashank Nedungadi.

“This was the first year we were doing this, and everyone was really new to this,” Nedungadi said.  “ I was really nervous coming into this event. My original station was scrapped at the last minute, and I had no idea what to do, so I took the first game that was open and worked at it.”

Working at it is exactly what the many organizations involved did. Volunteers set up and ran Victor’s Village, kept score, refereed the games, brought the players water, and cheered the athletes on.

One such volunteer was freshman Maggie Sills who helped in the event, distributing water for players. Although Mills initially saw her role in the event as miniscule, the athletes and families of the occasion helped Sills gain a new perspective.

“A family member of one of the basketball players said to me, ‘You are so nice for doing this, thank you.’ This sentence alone made me realize that although handing out water may feel like a small task to do, my support by simply being there was enough for the players,” Sills said.

The players were “just normal people like you and me” according to junior Courtney Zalmanoff, who worked in Victor’s Village and as a “fan in the stand.” The experience revealed that although the athletes had special needs, they had many commonalities to the volunteers.

“Some of them were dropping threes and had really great shots,” sophomore Lexie Clark said, who helped referee two games for the event. “It makes you realize that just because someone has a disability, it does not mean that they are not good at it.”

Zalmanoff agreed with Clark and admired the athlete’s efforts and enthusiasm towards the game of basketball.

“They are just as excited to play their sport and love it with all of their heart as anyone else would,” Zalmanoff said. “They play to the best of their ability and have fun all the way.“

And the experience proved to be fun for everyone, not just the players.

“I learned that just because someone may be different from you, it doesn’t mean they are any less capable of doing the same things as you,” added Zalmanoff. “In fact, they can probably do it better than you. It’s ok to have fun and help out other people at the same time.”