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Watch: Harlem Globetrotters Pay a Special Visit to High School Player With Down Syndrome

New Jersey high school student Kate Spadaro is having a good week. 
Watch: Harlem Globetrotters Pay a Special Visit to High School Player With Down Syndrome
Watch: Harlem Globetrotters Pay a Special Visit to High School Player With Down Syndrome

Kate Spadaro, a senior at Camden Catholic High School in New Jersey, is having a pretty good couple of weeks. 

Kate, who has Down syndrome and manages the school’s girl’s basketball team, scored her first career points during a game last Wednesday. That caught the eye of the Harlem Globetrotters, who paid her a visit this week and surprised her and her teammates with tickets to the Globetrotters game in Philadelphia on March 4. 

As you could probably tell, Kate’s teammates love having her around. 

“She is literally the light of our team, if we need a pick-me-up, we look at Kate, she’s always clapping, always cheering for us,” leading scorer Kate Deutsch told Philly.com. “So it was just awesome to be there for her on that night because she has always been there for us.”


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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland writes Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and is the host of the “Stadium Wonders” video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).