More than just the biggest game of the year
Before the Tar Heels and Blue Devils take the court in the Dean Dome, Special Olympics athletes from Orange and Durham counties will face off in their own adaptation of the Carolina-Duke game.
When the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball teams meet for the 244th time Saturday night, they’ll be carrying on one of the greatest and most storied rivalries in college sports.
But they’re not the only Tobacco Road teams renewing a rivalry this weekend.
Hours before the Tar Heels and Blue Devils take the court in the Dean Dome, Special Olympics athletes from Orange and Durham counties will face off in their own adaptation of the Carolina-Duke game.
“The game’s really exciting. There’s always a huge crowd with cheerleaders and everything,” said Joe Lopez, a senior and member of the Carolina Special Olympics Unified Sports team. “It’s probably the most exciting game I’ve ever played in. It’s a phenomenal experience.”
For the fourth year, Duke and Carolina students will team up with local Special Olympics athletes to tap into the excitement surrounding the rivalry to raise awareness for the Special Olympics Unified Sports Program and promote an inclusive environment for people with intellectual disabilities.
The Unified Sports program is an international initiative that combines people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team in a variety of sports. Worldwide, more than 1.2 million people participate in Unified Sports.
This year’s game will be played at 10 a.m. on March 4 at Carmichael Arena and is open to the public.
“We love the rivalry,” said Logan Beyer, president of the Duke Special Olympics College Club. “We’re schools that are academic companions and athletic rivals. It’s a unique relationship but to take that and then turn it into something so powerful in promoting inclusion, and bringing the community into it so that the athletes can take part in it too, it’s really one of the most special things I’ve gotten to take part in.”
For the Carolina-Duke game, teams include five Special Olympics athletes and five students from UNC-Chapel Hill or Duke.
“We bring in students and athletes and we all play sports together,” said Alyssa Taflinger, president of Special Olympics UNC-CH.
Lopez learned about the program as a first-year student and jumped at the opportunity to play basketball with the Special Olympics athletes. Saturday’s game will be Lopez’ third Carolina-Duke game.
“My role on the team is really to just be one of the players. I’m just one of the guys,” he said. “These athletes are awesome people. I actually see them all the time on Franklin Street and we always chat and we have a lot of fun together. We’ve become pretty close.”
The game isn’t just a social event, though. Lopez and his teammates want to win.
“It’s a real team,” Lopez said. “We run sprints. Our coach yells at us. It’s the whole team experience. We try to put our all into it.”
Carolina leads the series 2-1, with wins the last two years. The Special Olympics Orange County team has been practicing for more than a month to extend the winning streak to three this year.
“It means a lot for them,” said Jonathan Wilson, head coach of the Orange County team. “They take it hard when they lose and love it when they win.”
The location of the game alternates between UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke each year. Both college clubs aim to make the event lively for the athletes each year with cheerleaders, packed bleachers and bands.
There is heightened excitement for the game this year because the matchup will be held at Carmichael for the first time and former Carolina All-American Eric Montross will take part in the halftime show.
For Kwame Alston, an Orange County Special Olympics athlete and lifelong Tar Heel fan, it’s more than just the biggest game of the year.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said.
