Springville girls team fulfills hoops dream for manager with special needs


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SPRINGVILLE — When Springville’s girls basketball team clinched the Region 8 championship with a win over rival Maple Mountain last Tuesday night, they did it with a strong complement of players.

And one very special starter.

Team manager Taylee Smith has never let down syndrome get in the way of her dreams, including being named Homecoming queen and starting a varsity game in her senior year at Springville High.

To fulfill her dreams, the Red Devils put on a night no one in town will never forget.

“I love to be a basketball manager, because I love to be with my friends and my family,” Taylee said. “I love my Red Devil team because it makes me feel happy.”

Basketball has always been Taylee’s dream. Being with her teammates at Springville High was a wish fulfilled for her and her parents.

“She loves basketball, and she loves being out on the court,” said Taylee’s mother Tammy Smith. “It touches our hearts. We’re very grateful to these students here at Springville. It means the world to us as parents.”

Taylee’s teammates have also benefitted from her example.

“She’s showed us how to love basketball,” Springville senior Mary Fredrickson said. “She loves being out on the court. She just loves it.

“She loves being there, watching it, and I think she showed us what it means to have heart on a team.”

Springville coach Camie Oakey and her team wanted to give Taylee a gift she would never forget. When she approached Maple Mountain coach Cory Green about starting the senior manager last Tuesday, both programs were thrilled at the opportunity to highlight a special teenager in their close-knight community.

No time was kept, and the scoreboard was turned off after raucous pregame introductions. But Taylee’s basket was still the biggest of the game.

“It’s been nothing but her dream to play high school sports,” Oakey said. “There’s not a better place to do it than against our rivals in a huge game.”

Taylee started, and then ran down the court and scored the first basket of a night to remember.

“I had chills,” Fredrickson said. “Me and my teammates had chills up and down our bodies. It was really amazing.”

Photo: Dave Noriega, KSL TV
Photo: Dave Noriega, KSL TV

Springville students chanted Taylee’s name, and when the Red Devils finished off a 78-51 win over the Golden Eagles to clinch the league’s top seed in the Class 4A state playoffs, Taylee was one of the first to raise the championship trophy in the air while her teammates and coaches surrounded her.

“I feel happy inside my heart,” Taylee said.

The Red Devils will open the 4A state tournament Tuesday at 5 p.m. MT against Kearns at Salt Lake Community College. They join Mountain View, Box Elder and Skyline as top seeds in the weeklong tournament which will be streamed on live.ksl.com.

But a lot of champions were crowned last Tuesday night.

“It’s pretty special to watch somebody fulfill their dream, and to play a small role in that,” Oakey said. “I did this to just make her have a special night.

“I think it’s life-changing for a lot of us to watch the excitement she brings to a game a lot of us take for granted.”

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Jeremiah Jensen

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