Estrella Foothills basketball embraces Buckeye district's Unified Sports Team

Goodyear Estrella Foothills' 7-foot-1 junior Noah Amenhauser stood under the basket, smiling from ear to ear, pulling down rebounds, passing the ball to players from the Buckeye district's Unified Sports Team.

It was the happiest he had been since suffering a knee injury that limited his season to five games.

He knows how hard those kids work, how much joy basketball brings to them, and was happy to assist on this day when Estrella Foothills opened its practice for the the special-needs players that represent the Buckeye Union High School District's schools — Estrella Foothills, Buckeye, Youngker and the BUHSD Learning Center.

"This means everything," said Amenhauser, who has committed to playing basketball at Grand Canyon University. "God blessed us with so much. It's good that we can share the love and help these kids out."

The Unified Sports Team is partnering with Estrella Foothills basketball team for its annual Mental Health Awareness Game on Feb. 4, when it plays Buckeye. For one half of the game, the players well cheer for Estrella Foothills, and for the other half, they'll cheer for Buckeye, said Chad Williams, an Estrella Foothills assistant coach who began the Mental Health Awareness game four years ago.

They'll wear shirts that say, "Mind Over Matter."

In October, the Buckeye district's Unified program was recognized by ESPN and its partnership with the Special Olympics as being among the top 25 in the nation out of 1,800 programs.

Travis Haley, a special education teacher, who coordinates the Unified program in the district, takes pride in growing it during COVID-19.

"During COVID, 40% of Unified programs nationwide dropped off; they disappeared," Haley said. "Kids weren't in school. They weren't on campus. They weren't able to do these things.

"We grew. We added six new programs during COVID, because our kids needed something to do. So now we not only have the typical athletics, we have art, dance. We're adding music. We added e-sports. We have activities for kids who don't want to come out."

Unified has a partnership with the Arizona Interscholastic Association and Special Olympics.

"I call us the 'Dream Team,' because we're a little bit of everything," Haley said.

Haley said this is important for kids who love a sport but can't make a high school team. Now they're part of their team.

"They get to own that," Haley said. "Whether it's winning or losing, you've got to do it together.

"The varsity team with the Mental Health Awareness Game goes right with us our mission for inclusion. We all want to be a part of something. And you've got to own your deficits as much as you own your strengths.

"Mental health is a deficit for some of us, so we have to be able to talk about that."

Williams, 39, who helps out head coach Rich Gutwein on the varsity basketball team and is a teacher at Estrella Foothills, struggled with his own mental health issues in high school and college in Washington.

His story was chronicled by The Arizona Republic in 2019. How he fell into a deep depression, began cutting himself, had suicidal thoughts and found his way out.

It's an important subject that he feels is brushed away too much and needs to be talked about.

His door is always open for the players.

Gutwein has seen the importance of what Williams does to impact the community. Having the Unified team to be part of a game is big as everybody deals with COVID and how the isolation of last year when schools were shut down caused anxiety and depression.

"You notice it on campus some socialization issues," Gutwein said. "It's good to get back into the swing of things."

Tye Wisely, a Buckeye High School senior who is captain of the Unified team, said it has helped him grow. He also is on the state youth council.

"This has helped me make more friends," Wisely said.

Estrella Foothills senior point guard Seve Moreno said the break in practice to help the Unified team helps the grind of a season, especially when there have been more losses (11) than wins (8).

"If you look around, you can tell everybody is happy, everybody is getting a long," Moreno said. "We're getting closer as a team, too."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Estrella Foothills basketball embraces district's unified programs