The Regis Jesuit Boys Division gym was as rocking as its ever been Dec. 14.
Some big games had been played there by the school’s boys basketball team — which won back-to-back-to-back Class 5A state championships just a few years ago — but this time the cheers were for something much bigger than just hoops.
The Regis Jesuit Unified basketball team, which partners athletes with disabilities from the community with abled students, had the spotlight to show off their skills in an exhibition game at an assembly that included the entire school.
“They were all nervous at the beginning, you could tell, but when everybody settled down, we were just playing basketball like we always do,” said Regis Jesuit senior Spencer Fell, who has partnered with Special Olympics athletes for his whole high school career.
“The atmosphere was amazing, the students did a really good job of cheering on everyone,” he added. “They love it, to them it’s just like the NBA, almost.”
Before the exhibition game between the Unified team and the school’s Rowdies, the Boys Division’s “cheerleaders” known for their zany outfits and antics, several Special Olympic athletes and their abled partners gave speeches about their experiences.
Regis Jesuit’s Unified club is unique locally in that nearly all of its disabled athletes have graduated from high school and come from all over the community.
For 27-year-old Travis Bruley — who has been part of Regis Jesuit’s Unified club for five years — delivering the speech he wrote in front of so many people gave him as much of a thrill as knocking down one of several 3-pointers he made during the game.
Bruley has loved his involvement with Special Olympics and has played football, soccer and men’s fastpitch softball in addition to basketball.
“Special Olympics have helped me with my disabilities and we come together like a big happy family,” he said.
Similarly, 20-year-old Aaron Schmidt played with the Unified team at Arapahoe High School until he graduated and has been part of Regis Jesuit’s club for three years.
“I enjoy having fun and getting together with friends and peers and doing fun stuff,” said Schmidt, whose mother is very involved with Special Olympics as a volunteer.
That’s just what partners like Fell want to hear, as they strive to create an atmosphere of inclusion.
“It’s really important to make sure everyone feels accepted in this club because a lot of the people in this club have been rejected a lot of their lives,” said Fell, who is close with all the Unified athletes, but works a lot with Megan Bain, who is particularly adept at playing to the crowd.
“It sickens my heart to hear that, but it just makes me try to work harder to make sure they have fun and remember the good times and not the bad,” he added.
Regis Jesuit senior Theresa Nelson got involved with the Unified team last year for the first time and was moved to take on an expanded role as one of the basketball team’s coaches along with Megan Brown, Luke Maxfield and Evan Schwarz.
Though she professes to know hardly anything about the game of basketball itself, Nelson finds herself hoarse at the end of every game and filled with satisfaction.
“During the games, I yell a lot,” Nelson said. “I’ll be the one at the end with no voice. I’m not the best coach in that regard (basketball), but it makes me proud to see the athletes go out there and to see the joy on their faces when they play.”
Regis Jesuit’s Unified basketball season begins in earnest in January, as do the Unified basketball programs in the Cherry Creek School District and Aurora Public Schools.
CCSD programs typically play each other prior to games between varsity boys and girls basketball games, while APS programs and Regis Jesuit play a lot of games as individual events.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
