Knox County Eagles, local celebrities have a ball honoring DD Awareness Month
The Knox County Eagles Special Olympics basketball team, their cheerleaders and the Bad Guys, a group of local celebrities, celebrate after playing an exhibition basketball game March 13 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s Ariel Arena. The game was part of a huge event celebrating Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.
Fred Main
The Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities does
something every March to honor the community, businesses and organizations that
support Knox Countians that are developmentally challenged.
Brian Hess of the Bad Guys, left, plays defense as Tony Hawk of the Knox County Eagles glides in for a layup during their celebrity basketball game March 13 at Ariel Arena.
Fred Maain
Usually, it’s a luncheon at Mount Vernon Nazarene
University. This year, though, the luncheon has outgrown its normal facility,
so they wanted to do something a little different.
The idea of a celebrity basketball game was discussed, and it
became a hit even before the first ball was dribbled on the hardwood.
Friday night, a large crowd watched as the Knox County
Eagles, the KCBDD’s Special Olympics team, battled the Bad Guys, a group of
celebrities from Knox County, in a fun game at MVNU’s Ariel Arena.
“The month of March is DD Awareness Month and every year we
do a luncheon to bring together a lot of the community members, a lot of the people
in the program and their providers. But last year we outgrew our space and
ended up moving it to June,” said Brittany Coon, public outreach manager for KCBDD.
“We said, ‘let’s find other activities and events to do in March,’ and approached
Paul (McNeal, coordinator of development at MVNU) about having a fun, celebrity
basketball game. He was immediately on board.”
Knox County Eagles’ Blake Berger (51) drives past J.D. Burke during a celebrity basketball game March 13 at MVNU.
Fred Main
The Eagles beat the Bad Guys, 57-53, in the game that was
just one of many activities going on at Ariel Arena. There were cheerleaders
from Knox DD, who got a little help from McNeal during one of the time outs. There
were chances at prizes with fun games like basketball shooting, Frisbee tossing
and putting competitions, held during halftime and other time outs. Fans could
create their own poster to cheer on their favorite player, and the cheerleaders
even tossed T-shirts into the crowd. Plus, there were organizations such as
Knox DD and PAK United there, sharing information on their groups as well as selling
candy and T-shirts.
“It was a great opportunity for our athletic department, as
well as MVNU as a whole, to be a part of the community and not just always
looking with our hand out. We were blessed to be able to have so many community
members want to be a part of this. We turned down people. I think is something
that could continue to grow in the future. I think everybody enjoyed
themselves. It was a great event for the DD community, as well as us,” McNeal
said. “We talked about making it an event. Just a great way to put our
thumbprint on this event and hopefully be able to do it for years to come.”
The game itself was a huge hit, as the Eagles were able to
outlast the Bad Guys. Celebrities like police officers and firefighters, as
well as VIPs from some of the area’s biggest businesses like Ariel Corp., Knox
Community Hospital, Mount Vernon Chevy GM, Park National Bank, Elite
Preparedness and E-Merge Real Estate, as well as MVNU participated in the game.
The Knox County Eagles’ cheerleading squad gets a little help from Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s Paul McNeal during a time out at the celebrity basketball game March 13 at MVNU.
Fred Main
“It was awesome coming out here,” said Brian Hess of Elite
Preparedness. “It was all in fun; you could see the smiles on their faces, and
it was a great time.
“This was great. It was all in good fun. We got some
exercise in. There were some good ball players. It’s exciting to see their
faces light up for each other when they play. It’s pure basketball, the way it
should be.”
“It was for a good cause, and it was a lot of fun. I think
both sides really enjoyed it. Good turnout. Paul did an excellent job
organizing it,” said J.D. Burke, a firefighter with the Mount Vernon Fire Department.
“I really hope they enjoyed it as well, and I think they did.”
According to Eagles’ coach Danielle Berger, it was a huge
hit with the team, which included members John Paul Kimble, Tony Hawk, Max Black,
Jacob Jordan, Lakota Muston, Wesley Rardin, Levi Walton and Blake Berger.
“It was fantastic. They’re always excited to play on the big
courts, anyways, it’s real exciting. Then, to have the crowd behind them,
that’s real fun. They were all excited,” she said. “I hope this becomes an annual thing. I think
each year we have it, we’ll have more and more come out.”