More than just a game

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.

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.”

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.

“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.”