This past Friday, April 10, at the Huffman Athletic Center, the annual ESP Big Hoops basketball game was hosted once again. This year’s theme was “a game for the ages,” so two teams competed: The Hoop Squad and ESP Elite. One team consisted of a younger generation and the other was the older group. All of the charities and money raised for this event went to the ESP organization, which stands for Extra Special People.

“I always love going to Big Hoops and was planning on volunteering to be a buddy before I knew I was going to be on a team,” junior Sara Jo Pierce said. “I didn’t even know I could play, since it had never been open to high schoolers. Mrs. Bell actually reached out to me to see if I wanted to represent the younger generation. So even though I was always interested in doing something for Big Hoops, I didn’t really have an interest in participating until I knew I could, which was so fun.”

Pierce, a junior student who recently finished up her regular basketball season with her school team, participated and gave back to ESP in a different way than others by being on the court. She was able to give back with her basketball skills, which is inspiring to many.

“I was a volunteer buddy for a person with some sort of disabilities,” sophomore Wren Booker said. “When your a buddy you get to basically be their best friend for the whole night. Big Hoops is always one of my favorite events because of how well it involves Darlington and Rome’s community in such a special program like ESP.”

Like Booker, many students volunteered to be a buddy to an ESP person, as well as volunteer in other ways such as checking in and greeting people or even the concessions stands. Each role goes a long way and impacts every little part of the event in a huge way.

“I became interested in ESP three years ago when I first started volunteering with their summer camp,” Booker said. “Then I began to get involved with their other programs throughout the year. I love the way it makes me feel, but I know that it also makes your buddy and the person that you are with feel so amazing. It’s an opportunity to be able to shine light on them.”