Harlem Becoming Hotbed for Special Olympics NY Basketball
Trio of Young New Coaches Help Community Program Grow Quickly
By Randy Robertson, NYC and Hudson Valley Regional Storyteller
New York, NY – A full year before the Manhattan Wildcats won the gold medal at the USA Games in June, the team’s practice gym in Harlem was already earning a reputation as THE PLACE to be on Saturday mornings.
There were many practices in 2025 with as many as 30 Special Olympics athletes jammed into the gym, all looking for opportunities to dribble, shoot and pass basketballs. The atmosphere was positive and electric, but coaches David Sehl, Katelyne Maroney and Willie Colon realized that they had a good problem.
The Wildcats program’s rapid growth prevented everyone from playing as much as they wanted. The Wildcats are a community-based team of young adults with intellectual disabilities, and the program offers a chance to continue playing competitive basketball in New York City after athletes age out of the school system.
As word of the Wildcats program spread, the gym got more crowded and tournament opportunities became a challenge. When it came to selecting players to compete in tournaments too many athletes were being left home. It was a numbers game that required a solution.
To the rescue came not the Three Musketeers, but rather three young coaches who had never met each other but quickly bonded and resolved this Harlem hoops crisis. Ned Gresham, Nick Kerkorian and Jack O’Neill shared a love of basketball and an interest in supporting Special Olympics that dovetailed into this wonderful opportunity.
“I guess we had all individually emailed the Special Olympics regional office last fall, saying hey, we’re interested,” Ned said. “I had just moved here, so I emailed them to get involved. I thought we were just going be paired up with David and Katelyne, just helping out an existing team. They were like, there’s actually a need for a whole team on its own. Let’s have you three do it.”
A quick video call later and the Manhattan Hawks were born. The Hawks name is a nod to the school program at P721M in lower Manhattan where many of the athletes played while they were still in high school. That team at P721M is known as the City Hawks, and the City Hawks soccer team just won gold at the USA Games one day before the Wildcats captured the basketball gold medal nearby.
Back in upper Manhattan at the basketball court in Harlem, now instead of 30 players packing the gym, there are two teams of roughly 15 athletes apiece. The Wildcats play in a stronger division while the Hawks play in a lower division but also are quite competitive. They practice in two back-to-back time slots in the same gym on Saturday mornings instead of all at once. Coach Ned estimated that 80% of the players know each other from their younger days competing in Special Olympics tournaments.
When the program split into two teams, everyone adopted an “all for one and one for all” mentality. The coaches and athletes don’t view each other as an A team and a B team but rather two full teams that are playing at different but appropriate levels. You notice the support and camaraderie at every practice.
“You can see a lot of the Wildcats will stick around after their practice is finished,” Coach Nick said. “We’ve got practices where we have a few of them jump in and we’ll scrimmage against them. And the two teams are very tight. When they’re leaving and our guys are coming in, they say ‘what’s up’ to each other. But our Hawks team, the athletes do love the chance to show what they can do.”
It didn’t take long for the new system to pay dividends on the basketball court. Both Ned and Nick had coached Special Olympics basketball teams in separate areas of Los Angeles in recent years. When they were coincidentally assigned together with Jack, a student at NYU, everything clicked here quickly.
The Hawks use the same 2-3 zone defense that has been so successful for the Wildcats in recent years. They just needed practice and court time together to develop team chemistry and coalesce into a competitive unit. The Hawks’ great opportunity came in April at a tournament at Mount Saint Vincent University in the Bronx. The Hawks won their division.
As a reward for winning the gold medal at Mount Saint Vincent, the Hawks qualified for the State Games at Utica University in early June. As the team marched into the stadium for opening ceremonies in Utica, it was clear to everyone that these young coaches knew what they were doing and the athletes were reaping the benefits. Although the team lost both games in Utica, they experienced exciting moments and nearly pulled out a win in one of the games. It wasn’t about winning or losing so much for the athletes and coaches as it was a satisfying opportunity to give an additional dozen athletes the opportunity to get into the games and compete.
The Hawks are already building upon that experience and working on improvements. And as happy as the Hawks were to see the Wildcats win at USA Games, the Wildcats are happy to keep supporting their friends on the Hawks.
“The Wildcats still help the other guys,” Coach Ned said. “They want to. I think they kind of like sticking around waiting for us to ask them. We don’t ask them for every drill or anything. But every time I’ve asked them, I’m like, ‘hey, do you wanna jump in? Or, hey, can you play shadow defense right now’ they feel super happy. They understand the differences in skill sets and the Wildcats are really good about coaching them too. So they’re really great. And they all grew up playing together, which is really cool.”
Ned, Nick and Jack proved that Special Olympics coaching opportunities abound for people who are interested. Being new in town or as young as the athletes didn’t stop these three from making a positive impact on the community. There are a lot of athletes wearing gold medals in Harlem these days to reflect that impact.
Possibly interested in coaching? Special Olympics New York serves 51,000+ athletes across 22 sports. Information.
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