Kerry Benefield: 'I've got my game on,' athletes and their buddies shine in Special Olympics program

Feb. 4—

Elsie Allen High School student Destiny Mercado is cheered by Santa Rosa High School volunteers after making a basket during a Special Olympics basketball tournament in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Twin Hills Middle School students play against Montgomery High School students during a Special Olympics basketball game in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Slater Middle School student Rubi Herrera reacts to making a basket during a Special Olympics basketball tournament at Santa Rosa High School in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Levi Brown, from the BOOST Program at Cypress School, with Estella Paniagua, smiles as he is cheered for making a basket during a Special Olympics basketball tournament at Santa Rosa High School in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Elsie Allen High School's Rosie Gabino Solez celebrates making a basket during a Special Olympics basketball tournament at Santa Rosa High School in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Students from Slater Middle School are welcomed as they arrive at Santa Rosa High School for a Special Olympics basketball tournament in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Montgomery High School students high-five after a Special Olympics basketball game in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Santa Rosa High School's Cora Ann Shubin receives a high-five from a volunteer Caden Doll after making a basket during a Special Olympics basketball tournament at Santa Rosa High School in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Krystina Mattos carries the torch into the gym at Santa Rosa High School for the Special Olympics basketball tournament in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Elsie Allen High School student Jimena Hernandez cheers on her teammates during a Special Olympics basketball tournament at Santa Rosa High School in Santa Rosa on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Elijah Munshaw-Vonarx came to play.

Wearing a Montgomery Vikings home jersey and his hair braided tight, the junior said he was looking to show off the skills he's picked up in years of competitive wheelchair basketball.

"Realistically I thought I was going to drop 30 points but I ended up dropping like six," he said.

Although Munshaw-Vonarx was on the elite end of the action at a Special Olympics Northern California Schools Partnership tournament Friday, the competition ran the spectrum — from minor scrums for rebounds to boundless joy at near misses.

But believe me on this, it has heavy on the boundless joy.

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Back after a two-year COVID-caused hiatus, the Special Olympics basketball tournament hosted by Santa Rosa High School drew approximately 230 athletes from 17 high, middle and elementary schools in seven Sonoma County school districts.

There were about 75 volunteer buddies from the participating schools and an additional 75 students from Santa Rosa High who monitored the running clock, moved teams from one court to another and managed hundreds of kids spread between two gyms on campus.

Launched in 2014, the schools-based Special Olympics program runs three events each school year: Soccer at Montgomery High in the fall, hoops at Santa Rosa in the winter and track and field at Windsor High in the spring.

The games differ, but the goal is always the same: Inclusion.

And the focus here, unlike the community-based Special Olympic events, is to highlight athletes representing their schools and to involve all kids.

"A lot of these students really want to be involved," said Marty Geffner, a senior at Santa Rosa High and president of the campus Best Buddies program, which organized Friday's event.

Best Buddies provides a common meeting space for students in special education classes with those in general education classes. There are games and activities, field trips and events.

But in some cases, it's about finding one or two more familiar faces on school campuses that can seem exceedingly large and lonely for some.

"A lot of special needs students won't hear their name called by anyone else at all," said Beni Comma, the department chair of Santa Rosa City Schools Adapted Physical Education program, and a tireless supporter of school-based Special Olympics.

Nobody wins when students are isolated from one another.

The Best Buddies program tries to bridge that divide.

And for many established Best Buddies programs, like at Montgomery, Windsor and Santa Rosa high schools, it provides a space to practice for big events like Friday's basketball tournament.

"I really want these students to have that experience where they feel included," Geffner said. "Honestly that has been the biggest impact so far. I think people are really starting to learn that they deserve to be seen, they just want to be talked to, have those experiences with other people."

And sports provide at least one avenue for that.

On Friday, athletes wore school colors in some cases, team uniforms in others.

The team intros, the uniforms, the campus signs — Friday's event had all the school and team spirit that makes school-based events so special.

And there were fans in the stands and music pumping throughout the morning. It was all there.

"It feels good," said Jacob Foppiano, taking a break between games. "I've got my game on. I'm going against new people and I've never done this before."

Foppiano, a student with the North County Consortium program at Windsor Unified School District, breaks from the interview to absolutely scream for his buddy on the court.

"Yes Brian! Whooo Brian!" he yelled before turning back to me.

"I'm enjoying this," Foppiano said.

I asked him his favorite part of the day.

"Pretty much everything," he said. "This is awesome."

That was the universal vibe Friday.

"We were playing basketball with some high schoolers and we tried to take the ball when they were dribbling and shoot for the hoops," said Comstock Middle School eighth grader Jeremiah Walker. "They we really good players but they were also really kind, too ... they threw the ball in my arms so we can shoot and give us a chance and cheered for us when we scored a hoop."

The basketball tournament follows a soccer tournament with a similar format at Montgomery High last fall and precedes a track and field event to be hosted by Windsor High in the spring.

When teams were not on the court, there was outdoor bowling, tug-of-war and massive Jenga happening outside.

And a long table in the gym foyer was loaded with face paints and Montgomery High students were kept busy for hours by athletes wanting all manner of face decorations.

And so it was for Owen Higgins, who attends Ridgway High School.

Higgins was grabbing rebounds left and right in his second game of the morning, buoyed perhaps by the purple mask painted around his eyes.

"It was good," he said. "It was good."

For Comma, if face-painting and tug-of-war are the biggest draw for some students, that's a win too, just so long as kids are doing things together.

Friday's event is not about putting points on the board, he said.

"If you are coming to this event to say 'Oh we went 2-0' this is probably not the event for you," he said.

It's not the bucket scored, but the high five after — from peers and friends from around campus.

"We get to be in front other students, which is something the Saturday (Special Olympics) program doesn't have," he said.

Many students with special needs spend the vast majority of their school day in one classroom with the same classmates, Comma said.

That doesn't necessarily foster connection with the larger student body, and everyone loses out.

"Meaningful connections at school with their peers is what we are all striving for," he said. "That is how those barriers are broken down, through the practices and the sports."

And the endless high fives.

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.

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