It all started with a simple response to a tweet. Weeks later Gold Hill Middle eighth grader Morgan Buechlein was a full fledge member of the Nation Ford Falcons varsity girls’ basketball team.
The 13-year-old might not see the court this season, but what she brings can’t be measured in minutes played. Morgan is at every game and every practice and in doing so she is shouting out instructions and encouragement to her teammates, so much so she didn’t have the time to deal with a noisy media member wanting to question her.
“She picks and chooses who she talks to,” joked her mother Emily Buechlein.
Morgan was born with Dandy Walker variant, where part of the brain doesn’t fully develop, and apraxia, which makes it hard for her to speak. Still the one thing that helps to brighten her life is basketball.
“She has a love for the game,” Emily said. “She loves this team.”
Despite her challenges, Morgan has attended basketball summer camps for children with disabilities and really fallen in love with the game. She also is into horses and has been riding them since she was 7-years-old.
The Buechlein family moved to the area when Morgan was 3-years-old. She was diagnosed with Dandy Walker at 2-years-old and went to occupational and physical therapy, along with speech therapy, to help her get to where she is today. She didn’t start talking until she was 3-years-old.
In August, Emily tweeted out Morgan shooting hoops in her driveway where it caught the attention of Nation Ford varsity girls head coach Coretta Richmond. Richmond said she would like to welcome her to the team when basketball season came around as Morgan would be a Nation Ford Falcon next year when she becomes a freshman.
Not only did Richmond extend the invite she also gave her Falcons gear like shirts and other items. Then in November an official Twitter invite video was sent to Morgan by the team as she met her new teammates a couple days later. And when practice and the season started, Morgan hasn’t missed a beat.
“She has been to every practice and to every game,” Emily said.
For Emily, she said having Morgan be accepted even with her challenges has meant so much.
“It has been helpful for us as her parents,” Emily said. “She knows she is a part of this team. She is more confident now. I have seen her walk with confidence. They have made her feel confident.”
Richmond said after seeing how much Morgan loved to play basketball, it was only the right thing to do to reach out and make her an honorary member of the team.
“I think it has a great benefit for her,” Richmond said. “She was kind of isolated and wouldn’t talk. But now it brings a sense of comfort to her. And besides, the team loves her. They ask about her if she isn’t here.”
With Morgan entering high school next year, both Richmond and Emily feel like having the opportunity of being a part of the Falcons Family already will make the transition easier for her when the time comes.
“I can see her coming to Nation Ford being something bigger,” Richmond said.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
