Wyckoff's Special Olympics Basketball Team Triumphs

WYCKOFF, NJ — In Wyckoff, this Special Olympics basketball team is leading an inclusion revolution for people with intellectual disabilities.

The newly established Wyckoff YMCA Revolution had a very successful inaugural season, and ended up winning the North Jersey Sectionals in Division 6 this past weekend — "an amazing accomplishment and testament to the players," coach Brad Kutcha said.

"I am most proud of the way they played together, supported one another, and grew as individuals. Winning is a nice bonus, though," said Kutcha, also the YMCA's Director of Special Education who assembled the team.

Now the Revolution is set to compete at the New Jersey finals in Wildwood the weekend of March 25-26.

"They worked incredibly hard to get to this point," Kutcha said. "We (the coaches) pushed them because we felt treating them any less would be disrespectful to their abilities. We do not view their disability as any reason to hold them back."

Kutcha, and two other coaches — Delly Vanderpool and Lou Gatson — lead the team, which had 20 points in a 34-14 win over the Killer Bees Purple in the sectional final, and finished the 2023 season with a 7-2 record.

"So proud of (the team) and the awesome and dedicated coaches," Meg Minassian, a relative of one of the players said on Facebook. "(The players) never gave up even after losing their first game of the season by 40 points. They cheered each other and, at times, their opponents on, and showed amazing sportsmanship."

The Revolution was a bucket list idea for coach Kutcha, who — also as director of the YMCA's special needs day program for adults — knew participants of said program would want to compete, reached out to Special Olympics New Jersey to learn the steps for putting together the team.

He said he settled on the name as a combination of two reasons: the YMCA was founded in Industrial Revolution-era London, and a basketball spins revolutions when shot.

"The players, coaches and families are all thrilled (with the team's success)," Kutcha said. "It's been an amazing adventure, and we are all so proud of the players."