Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
A Dream Come True
March 14, 2006
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

You may have heard about this in the news. It happened late last month near Rochester, New York. You can find a video of what happened on the internet:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=1339327n
The story centers around a 17 year old high school senior named Jason McElwain.

Jason is medically diagnosed as high functioning autistic. He did not speak until he was five years old. He has been in special education all his life. He looks a little different than other kids. He talks a little different than other kids. I have no doubt that he was mocked by other kids. But in his heart, he is the same as other kids. In his head, his dreams are the same as other kids. In this case, he dreamed of basketball. He dreamed of being a big basketball star.

At only 5' 6" tall, he was cut from the junior varsity team when he was a sophmore. Since then he has been team manager, wearing a shirt and tie at the games. His job was to keep the team motivated, hand out water bottles and be generally enthusiastic. Everyone said that he excelled at that last job, being enthusiastic. For the last home varsity game, the coach wanted to do something special for Jason, so he told him he could suit up in a team uniform, just so he could feel what is was like to wear one. Word got out, and classmates came to the game waving pictues of Jason in the stands.

The coach didn't intend to put him into the game, but there was four minutes left and their team had a healthy lead so he pointed to Jason and said "You're in!". As Jason leapt off the bench and sprinted to the scorer's table, the crowd exploded with applause. His teammates started feedng him the ball. His first shot missed by a mile. He missed his second shot, an easy layup. Everyone from his school was hoping he could just make one in. His third shot was a three pointer and hit nothing but net. The crowd went crazy. Tears streamed down the coach's face. But it wasn't over. His teammates continued feeding him the ball and he kept firing, making another three pointer, and another, and another. The crowd was on its feet and the players were off the bench, cheering like wild, louder with each shot. The coach was still crying. In a span of four minutes Jason ended up scoring six three pointers and one two pointer, for a total of 20 points, setting a school record for the most points in a quarter. The last shot was from 25 feet out and swished though the net right at the buzzer. The crowd went berserk. His team rushed the court and carried him off the floor on their shoulders.

On one cold February night in upstate New York, because of the support from his coach, teammates, and classmates, one special boy's dream came true.

Thanks for listening.