OKC Barons: Team bonds with Special Olympics athletes through Barons Buddies

DEL CITY — Noticing the little boy with the sandy blond hair and the serious brown eyes, Tanner House broke into a grin.

“Reis! Reis!” he exclaimed. “What's going on?”

Reis Wathen didn't return House's smile, but he scrambled to his feet and extended his arms. It was obvious that the Special Olympian remembered the hockey player.

“How you doin', buddy?” House said, lifting Reis off his feet.

The way Reis hugged House's neck told the story.

In a city where the community outreach done by the major league sports team is well known, the newest pro sports franchise in town is making its own impact. The Barons are playing only their second American Hockey League season in Oklahoma City, but like their Thunder brethren, they are digging in, entrenching themselves in the community. They are making an impact beyond the ice.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the Barons Buddies program that pairs players with Special Olympians.

The franchise is doing lots of outreach programs, but none is cooler than this.

The Barons and the Buddies met for the first time in November; one front-office staffer deemed it the best community event he'd ever been involved with in more than a decade in sports. It was easy to see why when the two groups got together again earlier this week at AMF Sunny Lanes in Del City. They came to bowl, but really, it seems like they'd have had a blast regardless of the activity.

Everyone was laughing and smiling and high-fiving.

“The Barons have been so gracious,” Reis's mom, Lori, said as she watched the action on Lane No. 9. “It's just so nice.”

It's more than she and husband, Brian, anticipated when they decided to enter 9-year-old son, Reis, into the program. When they filled out their application, they were asked to indicate their player preference. Lori admits that they weren't big hockey fans, but she noticed that House wore No. 21 for the Barons. Because Reis has Trisomy 21 — the chromosomal condition that causes Down syndrome — she indicated that House was their top preference.

The Wathens had no idea how good a match it would be.

When the Barons met their Buddies for the first time a few months ago at the Cox Convention Center, House and Reis hit it off immediately. They played floor hockey. They got matching temporary tattoos. House even dressed Reis in some of the Barons' goalie gear.

He could barely walk in that getup, but it didn't stop him.

“Lots of energy,” House said of Reis. “I was so tired afterwards.”

He laughed.

“He wouldn't put the stick down.”

It's the kind of interaction that Shawn Byrne expected to happen.

The Oklahoma City police officer works security for many of the Barons' home games, and he is also the police department's representative for the Special Olympics' law enforcement torch run. He knew that once the hockey players got around the Special Olympians, they would love their energy and their spirit. He knew, too, that the Special Olympians would become lifelong fans.

After that first meeting, some who'd never been hockey fans before asked for Barons jerseys for Christmas.

“They're creating a bond and a friendship, and they're actually becoming a part of that (Special Olympic) athlete's life,” he said. “They'll never forget this.”

Safe to say Reis Wathen won't. Throughout this past week, he knew there was another Barons Buddies event coming up.

“Hockey stick,” he would say often to his parents. “Hockey stick.”

The second grader at Robin Hill Public School on the outskirts of Norman knows his sports. He's been involved with Special Olympics since he was 4 years old. He's the youngest member of the Moore Sea Lions swim team and recently won four medals at Special Olympics Oklahoma's Winter Games. And he's now looking for his summer sport.

(Lori suspects his energy will make him a natural for the track-and-field events.)

But hockey has been on his mind because he's been thinking about his friend Tanner.

A professional sports team having a community outreach program that goes beyond a one-time event is rare. One visit to this school. One visit to that hospital. That's usually the way it's done, in an attempt to maximize the athletes' time and the team's reach. Such events can have great benefits, but the Barons and their Buddies go beyond those short-lived encounters. They'll see each other again next week after a Barons game, then again at an end-of-season pizza party.

“It's nice to build that relationship,” House said. “Sometimes you do these things and you'll never see them again. To build that relationship up both with your buddy and with the parents is pretty cool.

“I think each event will get better because they'll be more familiar.”

How could it get much better?

Holding a green bowling ball tightly between both hands, Reis stood at the foul line on Lane No. 9. House stood next to him. After a few words of encouragement and instruction from House, Reis wound back and threw the ball as hard as he could. It bounced off the bumper, then headed down the middle of the lane.

They watched together, transfixed by the possibility.

The ball veered a bit to the right, just missing the head pin but still taking down seven pins. The player who wears No. 21 turned to the boy with Trisomy 21 and lifted both hands. They high-fived.

This time when House smiled, Reis smiled back.

What: Oklahoma City Barons' second annual nonprofit night, “Miracles on Ice”

When: 7 p.m. Friday vs. Charlotte

The Barons will give $4 for every ticket sold by participating nonprofit organizations. Any 501c3 nonprofit in Oklahoma is invited to participate but must register with the team at www.okcbarons.com/miraclesonice. Once an organization is registered, tickets can be purchased at the same website.

During the game, the Barons will wear jerseys with the Special Olympics logo. Those jerseys will be sold during a live auction immediately following the game. Proceeds will benefit Special Olympics Oklahoma.