Moline High School is hosting a Fall Classic Special Olympics basketball tournament on Saturday, November 2nd from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Wharton Field House.
The Special Olympics alumni team will kick off the tournament at 8 a.m., with games against United Township High School and Rock Island High School following.
“This is the tenth year that we’ve had a basketball team,” said Holly VanHerzeele, a Special Olympics coach and cross-categorical special education teacher at Moline High School. “It has slowly gotten bigger over the years. When we first started out, we were practicing in a hallway or in the wrestling room, or wherever we could find gym time, and now we have a gym reserved for us every week.”
Since 2014 when the team first formed, they have grown from six players to eleven players.
The Moline team competes in tournaments all around the state of Illinois. The team will compete in regional tournaments, sectional tournation, and even state tournaments. The Moline team has been practicing since the start of October, preparing for the upcoming season.
At the Fall Classic tournament, there will be a performance from the Moline Monarchs. VanHerzeele explains that the Moline Monarchs are, “the all-inclusive cheer team that Moline started this year.”
On top of that, the Fall Classic will have a huge raffle, a bake sale, and a 50/50 raffle. Some of the raffle items include a signed basketball from Iowa Hawkeye Basketball players, a year of free cake from the Moline Nothing Bundt Cakes, tickets to Disney on Ice at the Vibrant Area, and so much more.
“The money goes back to the team,” said VanHerzeele. “Investing in new uniforms, or spirit wear, or equipment. That’s why we do this fundraiser.”
Moline High School Special Olympics play much more than just basketball. The team also competes in bowling, track and field, and bocce ball.
“The Special Olympics goes forever,” said VanHerzeele. “There are people from Warren County that are in their 70s and still competing…So that’s what we’re kind of trying to start here, because we know there’s so many kids that love basketball, and little extracurricular things to do. In the future we’d like to have an adult tournament and a high school tournament.”
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