BUTTE — Basketball courts around the Mining City will see plenty of action over the coming days.
Special Olympics Montana's state basketball tournament is back in Butte this week. Over 100 teams, nearly 1,000 athletes and hundreds of volunteers are set to participate. The opening ceremony will take place Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at the Civic Center.
"It is just a good feeling for them," said Terri Norman, Unified Champion Schools senior director for Special Olympics Montana, of what the hundreds of athletes will experience these next days. "The excitement of watching those teams compete or practice to compete is just heartwarming and just neat to see. It's gonna be an exciting couple of days of competition. You'll see a lot of high fives, a lot of smiles and a lot of friendships."
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Tuesday saw things get started with a pep rally in East Middle School's gymnasium that was attended by all the Unified athletes in the Butte School District. During the rally, East was also tabbed as the 2027 Special Olympics Montana Unified Champion school of the year, a mark of the school's commitment to inclusion and providing athletic opportunities for students both with and without intellectual disabilities.
And after the pep rally at the Town Pump corporate headquarters on Main Street, longtime Town Pump executive and SOMT supporter Bill McGladdery was surprised with being told he had been inducted into the Special Olympics Montana Hall of Fame, a recognition of his many years of service to SOMT.
"I think it means making the world a better place," said McGladdery of what the organization means to him. "Inclusion, and just joy."
"I'm just so honored by it," he said of his Hall of Fame induction. "Because it's not just me, it's our entire team that kind of makes this possible. I'm kind of the champion or the cheerleader through the ticket sales campaign every year. Encouraging our people and talking about what Special Olympics does and what it means to our communities."
