Madison Southern brings SportsCenter to county’s Special Olympics basketball game
BEREA, Ky. (BVM) – Growing up as an athlete, many kids dream to be featured on ESPN’s most popular program, SportsCenter. Many times, athletes may use the phrase, “You’ll see that on SportsCenter” or “That’ll be on SC Top 10.” With that as the backdrop, it made sense for the students at Madison Southern High School to give the athletes of the Madison County Special Olympics basketball game the full gameday experience, with a SportsCenter setup of their own, complete with sideline broadcasters, a sports desk and a backdrop.
“Several members of that team are students at our school so those particular students show a lot of school spirit, always supporting our student-athletes and are really good people at our school,” Madison Southern head boys basketball coach Austin Newton said. “They love sports and they have given back to programs in our area so we thought it was a really cool opportunity to give back to them for the things they’ve done for us.”
Madison Southern Students created their own SportsCenter set to help others feel special at last night’s basketball Madison County Special Olympics Basketball game 🦅 pic.twitter.com/HYMn3YLwU2
— Madison Southern High School (@Mshs_Eagles_) February 2, 2022
The Madison Southern pep club pulled out all the stops with postgame athlete interviews, photos and an autograph session where members of the team signed the game ball. The Madison Southern boys team even cheered on the players from the sideline, giving an extra aura of excitement.
“It means everything to our culture,” Newton said. “When you have that mentality of being selfless and being more concerned about how you treat others then good things and special things can happen. Our guys for the most part have really done that and I was really excited for them getting caught doing something right.”
In all, the experience was as similar to the true SportsCenter as any of these athletes could have imagined, but that was only the start.
News of the event spread on social media, so much so that prominent state and national sports figures caught wind of the SportsCenter setup. Former University of Kentucky basketball star and social media influencer Rex Chapman, ESPN Broadcaster Arda Ocal and even SportsCenter host Jay Harris were among those who recognized the work done by the school to make the event a special one.
“We never dreamed it would take off and get the attention that it did, but we felt really good about the idea and it turned out really well,” Newton said.
Nicely done. 😊
— Jay Harris (@JayHarrisESPN) February 3, 2022
While those recognitions were great, perhaps none stood out more than that of SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt. Van Pelt tweeted a shout out to the school along with words of wisdom.
“Best Thing I Saw Today,” Van Pelt tweeted. “Feels good to be kind and it’s not difficult to do.”
Best Thing I Saw Today. Feels good to be kind and it's not difficult to do. https://t.co/PuBiFMwx9h
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) February 2, 2022
That wasn’t all the SportsCenter host would do either. As he alluded to in his tweet, Van Pelt also featured the story on his segment of “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” show titled, “Best Thing I Saw Today” bringing the uplifting story to a national audience.
“Scott Van Pelt replied very quickly and said, ‘Not only are you going to be on the show, but you’re going to be the lead in to my show’ just because he thought it was so cool,” Newton said. “It really was overwhelming. For a small town in Berea to get that type of recognition, it’s good for our school, good for our community, but most importantly it’s so good for those Special Olympics kids.”
In case you wanted a clean copy.. here's The Best Thing SVP Saw from Wednesday's edition of SC!
Such a great story – well done to all involved!! pic.twitter.com/YAJ7ZFa2jP
— Tyler Dencker (@T_Danks_) February 3, 2022
While the SportsCenter setup and support from the Madison Southern boys basketball team has gotten much of the deserved attention, it is important to remember what and who they were doing it for.
“I talked about it with my team before the game, like look at the passion that these kids have not only for the game of basketball but for life,” Newton said. “They’re so grateful for the opportunity to get to perform at our game and they’re smiling. Just their attitudes towards life despite their difficulties that actually helped us play really hard for them that night and helped us support them.”
Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and helps participants improve physical fitness and motor skills, earn greater self-confidence and have a more positive self-image, friendships and increased family support. Special Olympics has chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa with about 25,000 communities in the United States having Special Olympics programs.
“It’s like Scott Van Pelt said in his tweet, ‘Kindness is not difficult to do,’” Newton said. “It’s a hard world for people who don’t have a disability so imagine how hard it is if you do have a disability. For us, just to show them any type of kindness and give them an opportunity to come out and have the whole support of a student section and of a crowd it means everything not only to them but to us. It feels really good to give back to those people who don’t get that treatment all the time.”
With the efforts given by the Madison Southern High School community, more eyes were brought to this amazing event and organization. For at least one day, event participants were able to experience what it was like to be the star of the show and the basketball player they look up to. Those athletes got the SportsCenter experience that many athletes strive for, being featured both in the makeshift courtside studio and in the real broadcast, and that is a memory they will carry with them forever.
“It was a really special night for everyone involved,” Newton said.
