The Ole Miss Special Olympics College Club won gold in 5v5 Unified Flag Football at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, Minn., from June 20-26.
Special Olympics works to unite athletes who suffer from intellectual disabilities with coaches and mentors who do not suffer from disabilities to create an inclusive environment.
The team was coached by Hunter Crabbs, who serves as the coordinator of intramural sports and sport clubs in the Department of Campus Recreation at Ole Miss, along with senior biological sciences major Molly Nichols.
In 5v5 Unified Flag Football, each team puts three athletes and two student-partners on the field at a time, plus two coaches on the sideline. Typically, rosters are made up of 10 players and two coaches, but Crabbs and the team were a player short this year due to a travel issue. The team traveled with five athletes and four student-partners.
For Ole Miss’ team, student-partners must be enrolled at the University of Mississippi, while athletes live in the surrounding community.
The team was composed of athletes Clayton Dabbs Jr., Madison Dennis, Javontae Henry, Bhanuka Jayaratna and Jon Morgan and student-partners John Holtz, Ashby McWhorter, Austin Poitevint and Jason Skocy.
Crabbs spoke on the benefits of Special Olympics Unified Sports.
“It’s super impactful. I think creating an environment where these individuals can compete, and keeping (the environment) the same as we do for any of our other leagues, is super important,” Crabbs said. “They really enjoy it. It’s a really unique opportunity.”
In the seeding round, the team lost its first two games against Utah and Iowa before defeating Colorado. The Rebels then defeated Oklahoma in the first round of the playoffs, then took care of Utah, 28-6, in the semifinal. In the championship, the team defeated Iowa, 16-14, to claim the first gold medal ever won by a collegiate flag football team from Mississippi.
The team ran designed plays and set positions that they tweaked during the tournament, which helped lead them to success. They also had a game sheet that Crabbs would use to call plays from the sideline.
“We were playing to win the whole time,” Crabbs said. “It is competitive. I think a common misconception is that you treat it differently, (but) you don’t.”
For some members of the team, this was their first time traveling far away from home. They made the most of this trip on and off the field.
“We got to watch ‘Toy Story 5’ when it came out. … We got to see (the University of Minnesota) campus, so we spent a lot of time walking around campus,” Crabbs said. “(We) got to see (Shohei) Ohtani pitch in the Twins’ stadium … (We) spent a couple of days in the Mall of America, riding roller coasters and shopping.”
Crabbs noted the event was set up like the Olympics, complete with an Olympic Village for the teams. There was also dancing and live music.
“Kids were getting free glasses and free shoes and free insoles, (USA Games personnel made) sure that they’re getting taken care of physically, which I thought was really unique,” Crabbs said. “This whole concept of USA Games was foreign to me until I got there and experienced it. That was probably my favorite part of the whole thing — seeing the athletes getting taken care of in that way.”
The team competes in several events throughout the year such as the Unified Egg Bowl. In 2025, the Rebels took down the Bulldogs in this matchup, 38-19, which earned them the right to represent Mississippi in the USA Games.
The Special Olympics College Club participates in other sports, such as soccer in the fall and basketball and kickball in the spring. The club hosts games and practices weekly.
“They compete on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. They typically start their leagues with a skills day, so they introduce anybody that might be new to what it looks like, and then they’ll do three weeks of the regular season,” Crabbs said. “They’ll end up with a championship game between the two highest seeds. The club practices on Thursdays, and that’s a smaller group of students on campus and a smaller group of community members.”
Crabbs said that getting involved with the Special Olympics College Club as a partner or athlete is easy.
“Any (currently enrolled) student on campus can be a part of the club,” Crabbs said. “Our athletes for the club are community members, and they reach out to our club directly to become involved in both our intramural sports and sport clubs on campus.”
