Lightning Special Olympics Team Statebound

The Effingham County Lightning Special Olympics team has been participating in Special Olympics team Basketball for the past six years. Prior to that time, the Effingham County Lightning athletes had participated in three individual sports, snowshoeing, track and field (athletics), and bowling.

However, when Diana Ludwig, present Head Coach, and Sue Zakutansky became involved as coaches for the team, they took a second look at basketball as a team sport. Zakutansky, head basketball coach for team and skills, said, “I was most interested in the idea of playing on a team where they would have to rely on each other to play the game”.

The first year the team tried basketball as a sport, all of the Effingham County Lightning athletes competed in Individual Basketball Skills, in part because the teams’ coaches were concerned about how the athletes could respond to a fastpaced game like basketball. Yet, it was obvious in that first year that many of the Effingham County Lightning athletes had true basketball skill. According to Coach Zakutansky, out of the 11 athletes on the team that participated in skills basketball that first year, nine of them went on to the State Individual Basketball Skills competition.

Thus, the Lightning decided to start a new basketball team that next year, and athletes had the option to choose to participate in the team basketball sport or individual skills competition. Each year since that time, the Effingham County Lightning has offered both options for their athletes.

In 2015, the Effingham County Lightning was fortunate to have enough players for two basketball teams and a skills team, yet both teams struggled to win games at the District competition. “It took us two years to even win a game and three years to win a game at District,” Coach Zakutansky reported.

This year, though, the team had fire!

At the District H Competition held in Trenton at the Wesclin High School January 31, the Effingham County Lightning Basketball team won both of their games and earned the title of Senior Division I District Champions. While the athletes were excited and reported some feelings of nervousness, most were prepared and ready to win.

Angie Haarmann, ECL athlete, wondered “if we win at district do we get a parade in town?” Coach Zakutansky had a quick reply “if we win gold at State, then I could promise a big cake and that I would work on the parade”.

Now that the team is Statebound, scheduled to play two games this Sunday, March 13th, at the Horton Fieldhouse at Illinois State University, they definitely deserve the cake, and may earn that parade.

By all accounts, it was not just one player of the ECL team that carried the team or was most improved, but rather the team as a whole was most improved. Coach Zakutansky exclaimed, “The athletes really jelled this year. They play the game well together; more passing, more talking to each other, less blaming. More fun!”

The Effingham County Lightning team truly deserves their District championship win, and one thing is for sure, their community of Effingham is very proud. Effingham is a basketball community and many of the teams’ players have brothers and sisters, or cousins, friends and neighbors that play basketball. The wins and losses of community teams are frequently broadcast, televised and reported in news outlets. Now, the Effingham County Lightning is a part of that conversation and the athletes could not feel more proud and honored to be recognized for their amazing achievements this year.

All told, including the two District game wins, the team’s record was 7 wins,­ 4 losses. With regards to the Effingham County Lightning’s individual basketball skills athletes, Adam Gharst will be competing at the State Competition for the first time. Abby Koester also received a Gold medal at the Area 9 individual basketball skills, qualifying for the State competition, but due to family obligations, she will not be able to attend. The ECL have had other individual basketball skills athletes compete at State competitions in past years, including Karissa Bean and Macey Williamson.

Effingham County Lightning District H Senior Division I Basketball team is coached by Steve Ludwig, Manny Wei, and Susan Zakutansky. Team players include Jay Borries, Reagan Brown, Kraig Dahnke, Logan Freeman, Thomas Frichtl, Angie Haarmann, Jessica Ludwig, Megan Mayes, Caleb Scott, Emily Stead, Dallas Tegeler, Chase Wendte, and Rachel Zakutansky.