She scored 1,848 points in her career, was the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, helped lead four teams to the NCAA Tournament, was enshrined in the UD Hall of Fame and played for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
And yet none of that mattered last Monday night at the Bellbrook Junior High gym as she stood in front of the Flying Eagles bench and tried every move she knew.
She coaxed, she cajoled, she pleaded, she cheered, she turned her back in exasperation and finally she flapped her arms like an eagle in flight.
Nothing worked.
The Spark couldn’t get a spark.
She couldn’t get Michael Heyne to get up off the bench and go onto the court.
Michael’s teammates — Eddie Johnson sitting on his right and Tessa Rolls standing to his left — joined the exhortation and they clapped and tried urging him on.
Soon the crowd across the floor, including several UD women’s soccer players, the Bellbrook High girls lacrosse team and even a couple of players from the rival Extinguishers team who were battling the Eagles, joined the invitational chorus.
Suddenly, Michael closed his eyes tight, began to twitch his shoulders to an inner beat and just like Popeye when he’d eat a can of spinach and become an energized superhero, he began to get powered up.
And that’s when he threw his arms open as if to say “OK, here I am!”
He began to grin and finally hopped up, did a little jump and charged onto the court, right past Hoover who threw her arms to the heavens in triumph.
As the crowd gave Michael a roaring welcome, she felt as good as all those times she held up those UD trophies and plaques of accomplishment.
This was just one of many moments of personal victory and communal embrace in the game featuring the Flying Eagles, the hoops team from Colin’s Lodge, a wonderful gathering spot in Bellbrook for young adults with cognitive differences who come there to engage in all kinds of activities in an atmosphere, they’ll all tell you, that feels like family.
The game against the Extinguishers, a team made up of Bellbrook and Sugarcreek Township firefighters, EMS and police personnel, is an annual event and has become so popular that two years ago it moved from the gymnasium at Colin’s Lodge to the junior high to better accommodate the growing crowd.
Hoover, now married with three young daughters and living in Bellbrook, is a volunteer coach.
So is Eric Farrell, the former UD assistant coach on Archie Miller’s staff and an advisor of the Dayton 6th group that helps in the NIL efforts at UD.
Farrell leads the basketball program at Colin’s Lodge. During the 12-week season, there are skills sessions and intra-squad games for the adults, who are ages 18 and up. From those sessions come the Eagles and the aspiring Talons team, which played in the nightcap on Monday.
“Tonight, this is the full varsity experience for our team,” Farrell said.
As she watched in a mix of admiration and awe, Hoover, a first-year coach, saw what this game meant to all the players and summed it up best:
“This is their Super Bowl!”
That’s why she’d worked so hard to get Michael in on the fun and it didn’t take long for him to show his stuff.
The Extinguishers are like the Washington Generals and the Flying Eagles are the beloved Harlem Globetrotters come to Bellbrook. They delight the crowd with their enthusiasm, their pure joy and sometimes, their tricky moves.
You saw that when Michael, after just a couple of minutes on the court, stole the ball from an unsuspecting fireman and with a frantic dribble led a fast break he finished off with a layup.
He was beaming as he ran back down the court, his arms opened wide until he saw the smiling Hoover and pointed at her as if to say, “Thanks for the assist!”
The “varsity experience” Farrell spoke of was a mix of all the things you find not only at a high school game, but also with the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena.
The Eagles entered the Bellbrook gym with all the pomp and panache that the UD players do when they first run onto Blackburn Court.
Before the Eagles’ game, a banner the size of a bed sheet, was brought out and held in place by two parents.
Soon after, Colin Connor, the 33-year-old namesake of the Lodge and one of the stars of the Eagles, came charging out of a gym passageway carrying a large Flying Eagles flag that he waved back and forth.
With the music going, the crowd cheering and the PA announcer beginning the introductions, Colin ran through a waiting tunnel of admirers — including the UD and Bellbrook High athletes all who offered hand slaps of support — and soon he was followed one by one by his teammates, many adding a signature move when they hit the court.
Colin’s pal, 29-year-old Nathan Westfall, swooped in with arms outstretched like an eagle in flight.
Andy “Turbo” Turner — who like all the players had a nickname for this game — added a couple of hops and a brief gallop before breaking into a run.
Adam “Snoop Dogg” Flowers just lowered his head and came barreling out like a football fullback.
After the team warmed up, Farrell gathered the players and gave them some final instructions:
“Remember, we’re here to have fun. We are here to compete. And we share the ball. We’re a team, right?”
The UD soccer players and the Bellbrook lacrosse girls each had made personalized signs for various players and they waved them as the team took the court. Soon the Bellbrook girls added a chant that was joined by many of the moms, dads, brothers, sisters and friends in the crowd.
On the sideline, 25-year-old Jackie Kasmer, now pursuing her master’s in public health studies at Ohio State and working at the James Cancer Hospital, was in an eagle costume and began flapping her wings.
This was her first time as the Flying Eagles mascot, but she used to be Rudy Flyer when she went to the University of Dayton.
On the edge of the court, a grinning Eddie Johnson aimed a little smack talk at the Extinguishers and, as the old pitcher Dizzy Dean used to say, “it ain’t braggin if you can back it up.”
And sure enough, in less than a minute, Cody Heyne scored two quick baskets and the Eagles began to extinguish the Extinguishers.
‘A wonderful place’
Chris Connor, Colin’s mom, said she worried about what would happen to her son once he finished high school:
“I knew he’d have to work, but I also knew what happens to people like Colin after high school. It all stops and they sit at home watching TV.
“High school is really good. They go to dances and they’re around friends every day. With that over, I didn’t know what he’d do, where he’d go.”
As Gayle Horton, the director of Colin’s Lodge put it: “For them, it’s like when COVID hit. You know how isolated you felt then? A lot of our members feel like that their whole lives.”
That’s when Chris, with the help of her husband, Larry, who runs the successful Connor Group, a real estate investment firm, came up with a grand idea:
“I thought let’s get a place where they can socialize. Not a Day-Hab, but a place where they can go and just hang out.”
She thought they could offer a variety of things there that could enrich them in all facets of their lives and enhance their independence.
“Most of all, it’s just about building lasting friendships,” she said.
The lodge opened in Bellbrook in 2018 and it’s got to be one of the coolest places you can hang out at in the Miami Valley. It has the feel of a ski lodge and among other things, there’s a game room, a small movie theater and a good-sized gymnasium.
Every Tuesday through Saturday, a variety of activities are offered for the members.
When I visited some young adults were in the gym, which was dimmed, doing yoga with a backdrop of soothing music and the smell of incense or a scented candle.
Other members were doing artwork. At different times on different days, 28 programs, everything from Zumba and jazzercise to bingo, recreational boxing, rhythm and beats, karaoke, healthy eating and movies are offered.
There’s a walk club — 25 laps around the gym equals a mile — and members build up their mileage feats which are kept on a big chart on one gym wall. One member has walked 500 miles, three have done 400 and six 300.
Mondays during the winter are dedicated to basketball.
“I love it here,” Colin said. “I’m with all my friends.”
He and Nathan have known each other since first grade and while Connor is a regular at UD basketball games — his sideline dancing is an attraction all in itself and a favorite of several Flyers players — sometimes Nathan is there with him.
While those games are special treats, the real treasure in Nathan’s life is coming to the Lodge, said his mom, Theresa Westfall, who is one of the 300 volunteers who help at the Lodge throughout the year.
“This has expanded his horizons — mentally, physically, emotionally. He has a wonderful network in his life now. He has friendships and support here.”
As Gayle explained it: “When you’re in high school you then go off to college and learn more. And those who don’t go to college, they learn from their peers at work. So if you don’t have some of those same opportunities, you need a place to fit in, to belong to.
“Everybody here learns from each other and the programs that are offered.”
Theresa nodded: “It’s just a wonderful place.”
Almost on cue Alex Bobick, one of the members, called out when he saw Gayle back upstairs:
“Gayle, I’ve got good news.”
“What? You found a job?” she asked.
An amateur magician, he told her next Friday he was invited to a carnival to do a magic show for students.
“I’m going to get paid $100, or maybe $150,” he said proudly.
“Buddy, you’re going to have to teach me to do magic,” she grinned.
In truth, she is one of the best magicians you’ll ever meet.
With decades of work previously at the YMCA before she took over here when the Lodge was being conceptualized and now she’s helping turn lives that otherwise might be marginalized into special brotherhoods and sisterhoods.
“Every day can be like a big party here,” she said.
At present, the Lodge has 80 members — its limit — and there is a long waiting list for new entries who are supposed to be 18 to 30 years old.
Once you are part of the Lodge you can stay forever, Chris said, unless some other issue arises. That means openings are hard to come by.
Many of the volunteers come from the University of Dayton.
“UD is very Marianistic, so the whole volunteer idea, the community concept is part of their DNA and it really pairs well here,” Gayle said,
Gerry Gallo, the Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health and Sport Science at UD, runs a personal training program for members. Many of the Flyers athletic teams, including both basketball squads, volunteer here.
Sinclair students and faculty also take part as do Bellbrook students.
The idea of a basketball game happened by chance some six years ago.
Jordan Ewing, the Fire Marshal of Sugarcreek Township was doing an inspection at the Lodge when Gayle and Chris mentioned how they wanted to get more outside exposure for their members and were hoping to have a basketball game if they could find an opponent.
“Jordan said, ‘We’ll play you,’” Gayle remembers.
And then, in the same vein as Eddie Johnson at the game the other night, she added:
“But you’ll get beat!”
‘We’re pretty good!’
Before Wednesday’s game started, Eric Farrell had members of both teams form a big circle in the middle of the court and asked them — so the whole crowd could hear the answerers — to tell everyone their name and who their favorite sports team was.
“Everybody here has a voice — an important voice,” Farrell told the crowd. “And tonight offers the opportunity to use that voice on this platform.”
One member after another announced their favorite teams and only one choice got booed.
“Michigan Wolverines,” a fireman said proudly.
The only other boos of the night — and they were delivered with fake disdain — came occasionally when a policeman or fireman scored … and that wasn’t often.
There was no scoreboard, but by my tally, the Eagles won 52-14.
The game ended with hugs and group pictures and the fans descended on the Eagles as if they were rock stars.
The soccer and lacrosse players sought out their individual players and gave them the personalized signs they’d made.
“Now already we’re looking forward to the game next year,’’ Fire Marshal Ewing said.
That same sentiment — with one big exception — was held by the Flying Eagles, too.
“We’re looking forward to beating them again next year,” Nathan said. “We always whip them real good!”
He started to laugh and gave me a high five and then said with pride:
“We’re pretty good!”
About the Author