For the twentieth year in a row, the Heart to Heart basketball game and fundraiser returned to Ferris State, in an effort to raise money for the Area Five Special Olympics.
The event is put on every year by sport communications students, where the game gives the Area Five Special Olympics players a chance to play with players from the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Coordinator of sports communication, Dr. Jen Coburn, who helped put the event together, spoke about what the event did differently for this year’s event.
“Well, it’s just a phenomenal experience,” Coburn said. “What’s different about this year is our students really worked closely with the Special Olympics, and they helped to open the conversation for the organization. Our students stepped up and got the cheer team here to cheer on the players, and got the band here to play.”
The game saw various Ferris State basketball players who competed, such as sophomore Alyssa Wirth, sophomore Grace Lyons, junior Owen Hardy, senior Donovan Brown-Boyd, among many others. While the teams were coached by women’s basketball head coach Kurt Westendorp and former Bulldog guard Kadyn Blanchard.
Westendorp spoke about what it means to coach this event year after year.
“It’s amazing, seeing the joy on all the athletes’ faces, and not just the Special Olympians, but also the Bulldogs,” Westendorp said. “You know this is my fifth year doing this, and you see a lot of the same people year after year, and we all look forward to it. While seeing the support coming from the community that our teams see every winter and to give the same support to the Special Olympians. It just shows what a special community we live in, that we all show up to support each other.”
The game was an offensive shootout, with Westendorp’s team taking a commanding lead for most of the first half, but Blanchard’s squad kept it close before going into halftime. During halftime, Ferris STUNT performed just before the game started back up, with Blanchard’s team taking the lead.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with Blanchard’s team down three going into the final seconds of the game. That’s when Wirth hit a game-tying three-point shot at the buzzer to send the game into its first overtime ever. Westendorp’s squad ended up winning in overtime, by a score of 70-67.
Director of Area Five Special Olympics Jennifer Knowles spoke about what the event means to the community and about possible future events.
“It is just a fun way to bring Ferris athletes and our athletes, along with the community, all together,” Knowles said. “It is just a lot of energy, and a great little fundraiser, it helps bring awareness to our athletes. I saw some girls around here shooting volleyballs around, so that could be a possibility in the future, but I would love to get more involvement with Ferris.”
At the end of the game, students of the 489 sports communication class presented Knowles with a check for Area Five Special Olympics, which helped raise a total of $2,388.90 for the group.