The St. Cloud Adaptive Basketball team won its first FHSAA state championship last week, defeated Plant City High School, 50-37, at
Lakeland’s RP Funding Center.
They were joined by the Bulldogs’ Unified Cheer Team. Both adaptive basketball and unified cheer are inclusive programs that bring students with mental or physical challenges — those who would qualify for the Special Olympics — together with their mainstream fellow students. This was the Bulldogs’ eighth year with a team in the basketball program.
Six challenged “athletes” join six mainstream “participants” on the roster; three athletes are on the court at all times. This year’s roster roster includes: Braxton Ansbaugh, Blake Butler, Isaiah Camacho, Nicholas Diaz, Tyler Green, Kristofer Pereya, Tyonne Porter, Zak Ramos, Alejandro Soto, Alex Rodriguez, Mason Humphrey and Andres Soto. John and Theresa Stump are the coaches. Allison Mortensen coaches the Unified Cheer teams at both St. Cloud and Harmony High.
“The whole premise is that the athletes shine, and the participants are in a support role,” John Stump said. “It’s competitive, but, when it’s done right, everyone is out there for a greater good.”
He got involved in 2015 when SCHS Principal Nate Fancher approached Stump, who then taught an Adaptive PE class at the school, about the new program forming, now called Special Olympics Unified Basketball.
“it involved playing at least four games to possibly qualify for the FHSAA Special Olympics State Series and just having fun.,” he said. “My main concern was where could I find players.”
Thanks to a supportive SCHS Exceptional Education staff, his classes and the school’s Best Buddies program, the Stumps found the players and formed a team, and other county schools also fielded teams, so a schedule came together. A year later, they were state champs.
“We went from ‘How are we going to do this?’ to champs,” Stump said.
It’s gone strong since, even with COVID-19 putting a damper on the 2021 season, but the state tournament moved to June and St. Cloud finished fourth.
This year, the team went to Lakeland with a 6-0 season record and the top-seed, and played Plant City for the third time at the tournament.
But the success is easily put aside, or measured in the team’s inclusiveness.
“It’s really two teams in one, formed from kids from all over campus, and we watch them gel and interact,” Stump said. “It creates opportunities for the athlete group that they wouldn’t normally get. It’s those players who have been on these teams over the past eight years that that have made it special."
