Photo courtesy of Tammy Cannon
Winchester Alley Katz members include (front row, L to R) Andy Holtschlag, Zac Long, Keisha Rout and Shelby Magelitz. Back row, L to R, are coach Hannah Cannon, Dylan Mills, Seth Tavender, Daniel Blackman, Michael Shelts, Billy Blake and coach Alexis Pohlman. Not shown: athlete Dakota Flynn.
By Julie Gerke
Central Illinois’ newest team was hunting a state title; the Winchester Alley Katz recently received 4th place and did an amazing job!
The 10-member Alley Katz played basketball at the Illinois Special Olympics winter games that began March 7 in Normal. Team members, all from Jacksonville, range in age from 19 to 56, and earned the state berth after regional wins at Illinois College.
“Things are just like, just amazing,” said Katz athletic director Tammy Cannon of Winchester. “And we’re just getting started. God has been good with everything.”
The Katz hope expand from Winchester (the name riffs off the Winchester Cougars) into the rest of Scott County as well as Morgan, Greene and Pike, offering competitive sports and camaraderie for people with special needs or developmental delays or students with individualized education plans.
“Many are athletes who play well but don’t fit in at a school level,” Cannon said. With Katz, “they thrive. It’s amazing to watch them.”
As with many prep and collegiate sports, seasons overlap: Basketball is followed by track, then bowling; softball and golf are on the horizon. The Katz already have athletes lined up for track and bowling.
“We can make more than one team,” Cannon said. “We try to keep it fair and even based on skills.”
The Katz had been part of a larger, similar group in Jacksonville and will apply for tax-exempt status as a new organization called Winchester Area Special Athletes. Several fundraisers already have been successful, and Scheels in Springfield provided appropriate shoes to match the team’s new royal blue and white uniforms.
For the Cannon family, Katz is a family affair: husband Bryan is another co-founder and daughter Hannah is assistant coach. More coaching help comes from Alexis Pohlman of Murrayville, who is finishing a college degree in social work.
Tammy Cannon, who works at Four Rivers Special Education District in Jacksonville, formerly worked in a transitional apartment program for District 117 high schoolers. There, students learned life skills like how to shop and prepare simple meals.
Some of them played basketball for Special Olympics, so “when there was an opening for a coach, I reached out,” she said.
The Katz team practices weekly, using facilities at IC and Illinois School for the Deaf. Organizers are working on a similar arrangement with Illinois School for the Visually Impaired.
The Katz athletes “are stars,” Tammy Cannon said, “regardless of whether we win or lose.”
Volunteers and coaches must undergo background screenings and coaches must follow concussion protocol, Bryan Cannon said.
To volunteer, donate or register an interested athlete, contact the Cannons at walcreek@frontier.com, visit Facebook.com/Winchester Area Special Athletes or call 217-602-1164.
“It really takes all of us to come together to get this done,” Bryan Cannon said.
Board members of Winchester Area Special Athletes are Bryan Cannon, president; Nancy Wade, vice president; Amy Gregory, treasurer; Kaitlin Winks, secretary; Tammy Cannon, athletic director; Jodi Brown; Valerie Creviston; Jadon Wheeler and Janis McMillin.
