Marist Serves as Host Site for Two Basketball Tournaments for Youth and Adults with Disabilities

This past January, Marist served as the host site for both the Special Olympics Illinois Basketball Senior Tournament and the Youth Wheelchair Basketball Bonanza XI Tournament in the school’s three gymnasiums. Both tournaments provided an opportunity for faculty, staff, students, and coaches to volunteer and share in their love for the game of basketball.

Special Olympics Illinois

Marist High School’s basketball players turned out in full to facilitate a day of play and competition for Special Olympic Illinois athletes. On Saturday, January 14, the games held were in Marist’s main gymnasium. The many senior teams that competed Saturday morning at Marist are on a path for placement in the state basketball finals competition at Illinois State University in March of 2023.

“The need is greater by the day to increase Special Olympic resources in Chicago and its outlying suburbs,” said Dave Breen, Special Olympic Illinois President and CEO. “Our gratitude goes out to Marist High School officials and administration for recognizing need and opening the doors to our hundreds of basketball players and their families.”

Check out the article on Patch.

Youth Wheelchair Basketball Bonanza XI Tournament

Sponsored by the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago Park District, Chicago Adaptive Sports, Marist High School, Chicago Skyhawks Youth Wheelchair Basketball, and National Wheelchair Basketball Association, The Youth Wheelchair Basketball Bonanza XI brought together over 150 players and volunteers so that teams from across the Chicagoland could compete for a chance to be champs.

“Marist High School’s three courts provided us the opportunity to expand our annual youth tourney to an 8-12 team event,” shared Larry Labiak, Disability Policy Officer, Chicago Park District. “We want to reach more southwest side boys and girls with physical disabilities to play, so Marist’s location is a good fit to enhance exposure. It was great working with Tom Inzinga, who facilitated our every need, including recruiting Marist students to work the scorer’s table the entire day.”