The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the MVAS Junior Minutemen will face off in a wheelchair basketball game next month to raise funds for the MVAS team, which allows children with disabilities the opportunity to engage in sporting events that they normally wouldn’t get to be a part of in school.
The Miami Valley Adapted Sports’ Junior Minutemen is a team of nine players who compete in wheelchairs. Not all of the children require the use of their chair full-time, but team requirements state that its players must require at least partial use of a wheelchair.
Kristy Thome of the Village of Enon said that her son 11 year-old son Sebastian has played for the Junior Minutemen for five years, and stressed that his level of confidence has grown greatly in that time. She said the opportunities for sportsmanship and the ability to be a part of a team has done great things for Sebastian, who has Spina Bifida.
Thome said that Sergeant Chad Brown from the Clark County Sheriff’s Department encouraged people to send get-well cards to Sebastian last year when he had surgery, and that he and Sebastian discussed playing basketball against one another again. She said Brown and his wife Sarah have been wonderful in organizing next month’s basketball game, which will be held Friday, November 6 at 7 p.m. in the Indian Valley School gymnasium.
Donations at the door will cover the cost of entry, which Thome said will go directly to the MVAS organization, as they are in dire need of funds to cover travel and operating expenses. The MVAS Junior Minutemen is a team of nine children from all over the Miami Valley who travel to different states for competitions. Thome said funds that cover the cost of transportation and hotel expenses are rapidly draining, and that she was thrilled to see the Clark County Sheriff’s Department’s enthusiasm in participating in the event.
Retired Deputy Bobby Wise has agreed to auction off prizes and gift baskets during halftime of the game, and anyone interested in donating should contact Thome at 937-864-7870.
