Amazing Special Needs Basketball Coach Wins 'Everyday Heroes' Contest

The stories about ”Coach Ken” Ayles go on forever.

Some are funny, like the time he dressed up as an elderly woman and strutted his stuff at a Relay For Life event.

Or how he would start playing tag in the middle of basketball practice and wave his hands over his head like a rooster chasing around the kids.

And there are tender moments, too. He’d tap his wedding ring against the hoop backboard to guide the shot of a visually impaired student.

Ken Ayles coached the Hoopsters, a basketball team for special needs children in Newtown, Conn. Coach Ken is the winner of the Everyday Heroes contest sponsored by Sony Picture’s When the Game Stands Tall. He was nominated by Laura Nowacki, whose son plays on the Hoopsters team.

“He coached the special needs kids not because his own kids had special needs or because it was the right thing to do,” Nowacki said. “He coached them because he genuinely enjoyed seeing them take pride in themselves.”

Ken’s wife, Jen Ayles, said she is incredibly proud of her husband and the time he spent with the Hoopsters.

“He really did make a difference in these special kids’ lives,” she said. “In all our lives.”

Mike Salvatore, who helps run the nonprofit Hoopsters team in Newtown, said it’s going to be impossible to replace Coach Ken’s energy and enthusiasm for the team.

“He developed a connection with the kids in the program that was heartwarming,” Salvatore said. “He loved them and they loved him. His devotion and loyalty to the program was absolute.”

Coach Ken stood 6’10” and had a heart just as big, Nowacki said. He loved chocolate and would ask the kids to bring it to practice and then share it with everyone.

“He encouraged everyone to be in the game, and he would make sure everybody eventually made their shot even If he had to lift them up and steady them over the basket to drop the ball in,” she said. “He never got angry — even when kids were ’accidentally’ pulling the fire alarm or setting off emergency door alarms or chucking balls at each other and hitting him instead.

“He was just sweet through and through — must be all the chocolate. He made us all stand tall.”

In her nomination entry, Nowacki wrote:

Ken was diagnosed with a brain tumor six years ago after a seizure, but he showed up to every practice even after two brain surgeries and chemo. After my son with Down Syndrome had his first seizure on the court, he taught us to adapt to our circumstances. No matter what life throws at you, you can still make baskets! He taught our Hoopsters that there’s no such thing as failure, just to keep trying, and to be proud of what we could do.

He sat our team down in the center of the court knowing this would be his last season and with tears in his eyes, just told the kids how much he loved them. He is a gentle giant and reminded us that LOVE is what really matters. We are all Kenny’s kids and my son wears his Hoopsters shirt every single day. He is so proud to be one of Coach Kenny’s Superstars.

Editor’s Note: The Hoopsters lost their beloved Coach Ken to a brain tumor last week. He died Aug. 21. We are humbled to have been able to honor him with this award in his final days.