Welcome to the annual Heidi Prior Hearts and Hoops Special Olympics tournament.
The excitement never waned. And yet, this wasn’t any kind of championship playoff game or a rivalry match up. It was a game between two teams of students who are too often overlooked. But today, those students were the heroes, and the rest of the high school student body were in the stands cheering them on during the annual TK Heidi Prior Hearts and Hoops Special Olympics basketball tournament.
Five teams including TK, Byron Center, two teams from Hudsonville and two teams from Kenowa Hills, all spent part of the day at TKHS playing basketball.
Jillian Foster, teacher, organizer and coach, said it’s definitely one of the best days of the year for her students and she likes that the tournament continues to honor the tradition started by former TK special education teacher Heidi Prior. The tournament was named after Prior in 2022 after she died in a traffic accident in 2021.
“The students look forward to this every year. It means a lot to them when the rest of the high school students are there cheering them on,” said Foster.
TK Linkers from Ryan Fletke’s high school class said they love the games just as much. Linkers are students who are paired up with students with special needs. At the tournament, the Linkers became referees, timekeepers and announcers. Some even ran up and down the court alongside students who needed a little extra help playing the game.
“I like that they (the Special Olympic team members) get the same opportunity as we get. It’s just fun to see them laugh and have fun,” said Natalie Borrink, one of the Linkers helping at the game.
Tealy Cross was another Linker at the game. “I think it connects the students to us. I like that everybody comes in to watch,” she said.
Payton Gater said she likes being a Linker because she sees the impact she can have by helping others and she loves seeing the students smile and have fun.
And while the Hearts and Hoops Tournament is a special one-day event for TK, Assistant High School Principal Jeff Dock is quick to point out the students on the team are interacting with the rest of the student body all the time.
“This is not a one-and-done thing here. These students interact with the rest of the student body every day. They eat lunch together. They say “hi” in the hallways. They are all part of this school,” said Dock.
“This day is a tremendous tribute to Heidi Prior and the work she did here. Seeing the joy this tournament brought her was always awesome and I’m very happy we’re still having this tournament and seeing the entire student body supporting all our kids. Cheering, energy, enthusiasm - it was special,” said Dock. And he said that’s just the way Prior would have wanted it.
At the end of the game, most players and spectators couldn’t tell you the scores of the games or how many points any one player scored. But it seemed like everyone left with a smile on their face and a good feeling about watching a special group of students enjoying their day in the spotlight and playing a simple game of basketball.