On Friday, March 8, the Oswego Wildcats will compete in the Special Olympics’ State Basketball tournament. The silver team will compete in two games at Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University over the weekend. 

Coached by Michael Folsom, the Wildcats are 5-0 this season. Unfortunately, the team was unable to compete at regionals in January, due to weather related cancellations. However, the Wildcats won a lottery bid to compete at state and continue their undefeated season.

“The whole team was very excited to hear the news that our season [will] continue,” Folsom said. 

The team is composed of students from Oswego, Oswego East, and Pathways Transition Center, representing Oswego from all areas of the community. The athletes practice after school every Tuesday and have been physically preparing to play at state– doing conditioning like cardio and ball handling at practice, as well as mentally– encapsulating their team motto throughout the week leading up to their state performance. 

“Our team motto is to ‘work hard and have fun’,” Coach Folsom said. “We try and take that attitude into the classroom and on the court.” 

State qualifier Julissa Ramirez, a junior at East, explains how she and the team have been practicing to prepare for their games this weekend. 

“At practice we’ve been doing a lot of passing and shooting,” Ramirez said. “We’ve also been working on our teamwork.”

The first game will take place at 11:15 am against the Morgan Park Mustangs. If the Wildcats fall short to the Mustangs, they play at 1:45 pm that Friday, for 3rd or 4th place. If the Wildcats win their first game, they go home and return the following day, playing for the championship title at 9 am on Saturday, March 9th. 

Coach Folsom describes the excitement of the team, and explains the team is proud to represent our school district. 

“One of their favorite parts is taking the bus down to Illinois State University to compete against some of the best teams in the state at the huge Horton Field House,” Folsom said. 

The Wildcats are no strangers to tournament victories, taking home first place during their Metea Valley Tournament back in December. 

“All of the athletes are looking forward to the opportunity to show off their hard work and hopefully bring home some medals,” Coach Folsom said. 

Jordan Fikis, Mae Robinson, and Mia Rivera are staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.