LITTLETON, Colo. -- Mixed in with the cheers and laughter, there’s a message being shared on the court during the Sigma Pi March Madness Unified Basketball tournament at Chatfield High School.
The tournament is just part of the season for students taking part in the Special Olympics Unified Sports program at schools in the JeffCo area. That program allows kids with and without disabilities to play together on the court.
“It’s just been amazing to see the growth of this tournament,” tournament director Mark Reister told Denver7.
Mark started volunteering for the tournament when he was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity at the University of Colorado 17 years ago. That was the first year of the tournament and it was held on the CU Boulder campus.
“The first year we had maybe six teams that came up to Boulder and the second year it was maybe eight and now its 22 teams,” he said.
Fraternity members now make the trip from Boulder to Chatfield every year to volunteer at the tournament.
“It’s just been amazing to see the growth of this tournament and the blessing that this is to be a part of this and these kids’ faces,” Reister said.
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