bodoyle
February 23rd, 2006, 03:01 PM
http://www.todaysthv.com/sports/sports.aspx?storyid=24170
It’s an awesome story with a fairy tale ending for one basketball player in Rochester, NY. The senior, who is autistic, had never played in a varsity game before—until last Thursday night.
Jason McElwain is the trainer for the Greece Athena varsity team. As a part of "Senior Night" for the team's last home game, his coach decided to let him play.
He sat patiently on the bench in his new uniform until the team was up 20 points. His fellow students were chanting his name, and the coach decided to put him in.
Although he got off to a rocky start, missing his first two shots, there was no stopping him once he got in his groove. Even the coach was overwhelmed with emotion for his newest star player.
McElwain scored 20 points in the last four minutes of a basketball game. And saying the crowd went wild is an understatement. They chanted his name and each basket was followed by a roar as if he had just won the game in the final seconds with each shot. Maybe he did.
Here is the video of the kid: http://easylink.playstream.com/katu/060222autistic_basketball_12pm.wvx
It’s an awesome story with a fairy tale ending for one basketball player in Rochester, NY. The senior, who is autistic, had never played in a varsity game before—until last Thursday night.
Jason McElwain is the trainer for the Greece Athena varsity team. As a part of "Senior Night" for the team's last home game, his coach decided to let him play.
He sat patiently on the bench in his new uniform until the team was up 20 points. His fellow students were chanting his name, and the coach decided to put him in.
Although he got off to a rocky start, missing his first two shots, there was no stopping him once he got in his groove. Even the coach was overwhelmed with emotion for his newest star player.
McElwain scored 20 points in the last four minutes of a basketball game. And saying the crowd went wild is an understatement. They chanted his name and each basket was followed by a roar as if he had just won the game in the final seconds with each shot. Maybe he did.
Here is the video of the kid: http://easylink.playstream.com/katu/060222autistic_basketball_12pm.wvx