MT. VERNON, Ill. -- The Mt. Vernon Rams Special Olympics Unified Basketball Team faced off against the Edwardsville High School Tigers Unified Basketball Team in the "Fans in the Stands" game on Saturday.Â
The game included all the staples of any basketball outing -- a band, a drumline, and spirit groups, for example -- with one major difference: the crowd was asked to cheer for both teams.Â
The game is an annual event held by MVTHS's Special Olympics in partnership with the Unified Champion Schools project. The project places students with and without disabilities on the same team. One of the program's leaders, Megan McMillan Clodi, hopes this environment will foster friendship, respect and inclusivity among the students.Â
"This event is important in order to promote awareness," said Clodi. "It also gives the players a chance to play for a packed house."Â
MVTHS's men's and women's teams even made it back from their weekend games to support the teams.Â
While the Rams managed to pull off the win, Clodi hopes fans took away something else from the game.Â
"The true champions were all the fans in the stands who had the rare opportunity to experience a game with joy and sportsmanship rarely seen in high school sports," she told WSIL.Â
Following the team's win, the Rams will continue onto the IHSA Unified Basketball Regional at Edwardsville High School (EHS) on Saturday. MVTHS will compete against EHS along with Triad and East St. Louis for a chance to make it to State.Â
