Hundreds of athletes compete at Special Olympics Michigan basketball tournament

Sixty-nine teams came out to compete at the Michigan Special Olympics District Basketball Tournament on Sunday at Legacy Sports Complex in Brighton.

"[I'm] having a lot of fun out here," said Pervis Dace of Detroit. "Enjoying myself today. We won our first game."

Teams from Southeast Michigan all hoped to qualify for the state basketball finals later in March in Grand Rapids.

"Great experience," said Anthony Montgomery of Detroit. "Learning new things in the world, you know, getting to work with different people. It's all about learning and building community."

"The pure joy of seeing your work come to fruition for a community of people who are often overlooked and underserved and also often tossed to the side in society, so being able to provide athletic competitions for them to show that they are more than their disability," said Daniel Kelley, Special Olympics Michigan southeast coordinator of sports and training. "Just because they have an intellectual disability doesn't mean they aren't able to compete."

The sense of community is evident among the athletes, coaches and chaperones.

"Since I have no brothers and sisters, all of my teammates are like brothers and sisters, so it's kind of an expansion of family for me," said Kassidy Harding of the Plymouth Canton Stars.

Harding is one of many athletes with Special Olympics Michigan who play multiple sports.

"Bowling, basketball, as you can see here, soccer, softball, track," said Harding, who is heading to the Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis for track and field this summer.

"Just to meet everybody and get to know them a lot more than you expected," added Stars player Ana Harmon, who is also competing at the Special Olympics USA Games for track and field this summer.

"The friendships and to see the progress these athletes have made, and not just their basketball skills or their track skills, just life lessons they have learned," said Jim Holloway, Team USA Special Olympics coach.