Jules Hoogland, 17, of Michigan’s Zeeland Public Schools Unified Basketball team, receives praise for her skill and tenacity online.
Nothing is more inspiring than when individuals work together to achieve inclusivity. A magnificent illustration of this is a crowd at a high school in the United States that fell silent as a visually-impaired girl nailed a shot on the basketball floor. The touching scene is currently making the rounds on the internet, reassuring people’s faith in humanity.
At a match in Michigan, the audience fell silent so that Jules Hoogland, who is blind, could put the ball through the hoop. Hoogland, a Zeeland Public Schools Unified Basketball player, made the shot look easy.
The school’s video shows the athlete prepared to score a goal while the audience remains silent. A woman was observed tapping the basketball hoop frame with a big pole so that Hoogland could “hear” where she should throw. After a few taps, she aimed and scored like a veteran, delighting the audience and her teammates.
According to MLive, the 17-year-old Zeeland East High School student has made a shot in every game this season. Hoogland told a local news site, “I felt pretty nervous because all these people were staring at me.” Fortunately, I couldn’t see them looking at me.”
The team, comprised of both disabled and non-disabled students, was playing its final game at a school assembly when Hoogland plunged her last free throw of the season in front of 2,500.
And while it may have appeared to be simple, the high schooler, who began playing basketball in middle school, said it takes time to get the feel of it. “It’s a process, but it’s fun,” she said in an interview with MLive. “It’s hard at times, but I just keep going,” the youngster, who had lost her sight by three, said. On the other hand, her perseverance has become the talk of the town.
The authored article is written by Darshana Joshi and shared with Prittle Prattle News exclusively.