Photo/Melanie Petrucci
By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Region – If it’s Saturday morning in Boylston this fall, you will find Basketball Buddies in the gym at Town Hall dribbling, making baskets – and making friends.
Basketball Buddies of Central Massachusetts is a co-ed, unified recreational program pairing special needs athletes with typical peers in a non-competitive, social setting. It is open to all Central Massachusetts residents ages 14-100.
The team was formed by Southborough native, Christine Lewis, who raised her family in Westborough and Boylston. Her son Nate, now 28, once played basketball for Westborough’s Special Olympics team.
When Lewis and her family moved to Boylston she was looking for a similar, yet less restrictive, program for Nate. She ended up creating one to suit their needs. Now in its eighth season, Basketball Buddies has 32 players ages 18 to 60. The season runs from mid-September to mid-November.
While still recreational, the team operates similarly to the Special Olympic model.
“I don’t match them one to one. I want the athletes to play the game and feel accomplished. The partners help put the athletes in a position to succeed,” Lewis explained.
The partners assist with skills, such as dribbling, passing the ball and shooting baskets, but most importantly they offer encouragement.
“It’s recreational and we just play against each other each week. It isn’t about winning or loosing because I think we are all winners,” Lewis stated.
Lewis wants her team to feel accepted, needed, loved, supported and that they absolutely belong. Although the purpose of the team isn’t competition, they do break up into groups to play one another and there is always a group to cheer from the sidelines.
The fun doesn’t just happen on the Basketball court. Lewis wants to encourage friendships off the court as well. During the season they hold a potluck tailgating party in the Town Hall parking lot, usually near Halloween. Then they close the season with an awards party.
The team also holds a Texas Roadhouse Gift Card fundraiser to help defray the costs for the use of the town Gym and for team t-shirts. They also hold a dining fundraiser at the restaurant where they receive 20 percent of the evening’s receipts.
The team looks forward to marching in the Boylston Memorial Day Parade each year which is followed by a picnic on the Town Common. The goal is to keep the team connected.
Participants come from as far away as Bolton, North Brookfield, Holden, Webster and Oxford and points in between including Shrewsbury, Northborough, Westborough and Grafton.
“If you or your caretaker can get you here, you are part of the team. I’ll never say no to a special athlete,” Lewis added. “It’s something fun, it’s about friendships. It really does take a village.”
For more information visit, www.Boylstonparks.org.
