The lights in the DGN field house flicker on and illuminate the basketball court below. Athletes enter the gym, peel off their puffy winter coats and toss them onto the bleachers to reveal jerseys underneath. Slowly but surely, the three-tiered bleachers fill with adoring parents and excited Superfans, shifting in their seats as the long-awaited D99 Hoops game against Hinsdale South draws near.

D99 Hoops is a district-wide basketball program affiliated with Special Olympics of Illinois. Students enrolled in special education programs at DGS, DGN and Transition 99 make up four teams based on ability level. The organization currently includes 60 athletes, 20 student coaches and eight adult coaches.

Last year, both Team 1 and Team 2 won the state tournament in their divisions. Many players hope to keep the state title this season.

“I hope we make it to state,” Team 2 member freshman Raymarion Dean said.

D99 Hoops Team 1 coach and special-needs teacher Kevin Ahrens believes that the program gives students with special needs an “opportunity to participate” in school activities and helps to increase their confidence level.

“Just today, I talked to players from Teams 3 and 4, and they were [saying], ‘We’ve got a game today.’ The excitement, the energy they have–it’s so real. It’s awesome,” Ahrens said.

Agreeing with Ahrens, Team 3 coach and special-needs teacher Brett Wolf adds that participation in D99 Hoops gives athletes a chance to become involved in physical activity–a lifestyle component that is often missing from these students’ lives.

“We want the kids to be active, that’s a big part of it, even if some kids maybe don’t love basketball or aren’t involved in too much, we want them to be moving.  We want the exercise component to be there,” Wolf said.

The program also focuses on improving the athletes’ basketball skills including dribbling, passing and shooting. Team 3 player senior David Raineri said he enjoys playing on his D99 Hoops team. “I like to shoot and make baskets,” Raineri said.

The addition of student coaches to the program allow for other forms of collaboration. Each student coach went through an interview process to be selected.

Ahrens and Wolf both believe that creating relationships between special education athletes and general education student coaches is an important goal of D99 Hoops. Team 2 student coach senior Maddie Manganiello explains the duties of student coaching.

“When coaches get there later because of school, we start warm-ups and make the players feel really comfortable and confident in themselves because that’s the biggest part of the sport, and some of them do have confidence issues. We cheer them on and they love that, and we direct them because sometimes they have difficulty knowing where to go and what to do. We just try to be there with them,” Manganiello said.

Team 4 student coach senior Jack Loris said he loves working with the athletes. His favorite part of coaching are the students’ reactions when they play well.

“This program is amazing and the kids are just as amazing. I’ve had such a positive experience working with them,” Loris said.

Student coaches also have the job of helping the athletes improve their basketball skills. Raineri said that having student coaches there to direct athletes during practices and games “helps a lot.”

Managing time between the normal school day and basketball practice can often become difficult, and Wolf feels that student coaches help take this weight off of the adult coaches’ shoulders.

“Without them [student coaches], it would really be kind of hard to balance it all. They make our jobs so much easier,” Wolf said.

Becoming involved with D99 Hoops and other special education programs have inspired many to pursue a career path that involves working with special needs students. Manganiello plans to become a special education teacher and Loris is considering a career in the field.

Like Manganiello and Loris, Wolf discovered his passion for special education through his experience as a student coach. His father coached a Special Olympics basketball team for 20 years that Wolf would often help with, and he points to this experience as the reason he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. Wolf said his coaching knowledge has trained him for D99 Hoops and he feels “very comfortable coaching.”

“My dad worked at Leyden [High School] and won, like, 17 state championships. I was part of three or four state championships; I went down to ISU [Illinois State University], it was always a fun time,” Wolf said. “It was my way of getting involved with Special Olympics and then made me want to be a special ed teacher.”

Wolf believes that being a part of D99 Hoops has helped diversify his coaching methods.

“I coach baseball and volleyball here so when I go to those, I think it [coaching D99 Hoops] helps build perspective,” Wolf said. “I get kind of competitive, kind of heated, and the kids remind me it’s not all about winning and losing. It helps me gain perspective.”

Ahrens’s favorite part of coaching is seeing the passion the athletes demonstrate while playing. “It’s just pure emotion, and they give 100 percent all the time,” Ahrens said. “That part is really cool.”

In addition to D99 Hoops, DGS has a unified basketball team. This team consists of a combination of two general education and three special education students.

“The goal is, instead of buddy basketball where they [general education students] help the kids, it’s competitive basketball … they are equals. It’s a cool chance for gen-ed kids to be on a competitive team that they may not have had the chance to do … so they get a chance to play with the DGS logo and compete on the court with their buddies, which is pretty cool,” Wolf said.

In the future, Wolf plans to start a Unified Sports Club with Manganiello as a co-founder. This club would potentially include sports such as soccer, volleyball and bocce ball.

“The whole goal of it is for everyone to see each other as peers,” Wolf said. “I think it’s a good message to send to everybody and then everyone who gets involved, they grow closer as a group.”

Ahrens feels it is important for general education students to become involved with special education students during their high school career, whether that be through D99 Hoops and Unified Sports or other special education clubs such as Friendship Club or after-school recycling club Go Green.

“There are 3,000 students in our building and we know there are a lot of students who want to work with others, who want to have a different experience, who want to impact someone’s life,” Ahrens said.

As the fourth quarter comes to a close, D99 Hoops keeps up their hard work to seal their win. Tick, tick, tick … the game concludes and D99 Hoops comes out on top. Applause engulfs the stands as the athletes excitedly shake hands with their opponents and begin to celebrate their victory.