Over the weekend, the St. Coletta co-ed basketball team competed in the 2024 Wisconsin Special Olympics Spring Games, held on the UW-Oshkosh campus.
Hailing from Jefferson and the surrounding area, St. Coletta’s team progressed through regional and sectional games to play at the state-wide team basketball tournament from April 12 to 14.
At the state games, the St. Coletta basketball team placed third overall and seven athletes were awarded individual medals. The UW-Oshkosh campus welcomed more than 800 athletes, and at the tournament, competitions were held for swimming, team basketball, three-on-three basketball, and basketball skills.
Journey to state
In February, the St. Coletta team competed in a regional tournament in Wilmot, and after winning the regional tournament, the team traveled to New Berlin for the sectional tournament three weeks later. There, they won again and advanced to the state competition.
The St. Coletta basketball team is made up of eight players, ranging in age from 21 to 65, and is coached by Ken Muth.
In a group interview with players, which occurred before the state competition, everyone was looking forward to their upcoming travel to Oshkosh.
Traveling to state was a completely new experience for some, but others had been to state before. One player, Cody, has visited the state tournament three times and is a state champion.
When the immensity of the UW-Oshkosh fieldhouse was mentioned, everyone was visibly excited about the notion of playing in front of thousands of cheering fans.
Muth, who goes by “coach” on and off the court, was happy to share memorable moments leading up to the state games and the team’s support of one another.
He said, “We work a lot on just being a good team, being good teammates. Most of our practices are spent on skills, passing, and having fun and supporting each other. They do a great job of that.”
“We have a wide range of players. We have people in their early 20s and people who are a little older, but [regardless of age] they do a great job of supporting each other,” he continued.
Remembering those regional and sectional games, Muth said, “The first game was kind of rough, but they hung through it. That’s where I think we learned a lot — because we could have been really, really down — but we played hard all the way to the end. Then, what was really impressive was that they were all ready to go for the next game.”
Special thanks
While Muth has only been involved with St. Coletta for the past year, he has been coaching basketball in the surrounding Jefferson area for much longer. He shared that his daughter, who had been involved with a Special Olympics program in Minnesota, was the one who pushed him to help out with the St. Coletta team.
Muth said, “I’ve always wanted to coach a team like St. Coletta’s.”
After retiring from his corporate job, Muth started to work at St. Coletta, as a part of its transportation team.
“When I came here, I asked about coaching basketball. They said, ‘Yes,’ and just happened to need a coach. So, it all fell into place.”
It’s “a dream come true,” he added.
Muth gives special thanks to St. John the Baptist School in Jefferson, where the team practices each week.
He said, “When we practice, we practice against some of the students — who give us a good game. [The students] participate and help us in drills, and when we scrimmage, we scrimmage against them. That makes a big difference when you’re in games because it’s an experience you’re used to in practice.”
He continued with great gratitude, “We wouldn’t have this without St. John opening the gym and having the students volunteer to help us.”
With Franciscan roots, St. Coletta of Wisconsin is an organization focused on nurturing and supporting people with developmental disabilities. To learn more about the organization, visit stcolettawi.org.