When the Super Celtics Special Needs Coed Camp opened for business in 2023, it had 16 campers including young Shane Kocher. The camp featured members of the girls basketball team and a few other athletes at Providence Catholic teaching basketball and having fun with special-needs students of various ages. Kocher, of Mokena, was less than enthusiastic about participating, according to his mother, Brittany. “It was a really difficult time,” she said. “He didn’t interact and didn’t go anything basketball related.” Brittany, who has three children with special needs, said last year was a little better for Shane. “We brought one of his therapists to help assist him,” she said. “He did OK.” But in 2025? “This year, he has grown the most.” Brittany said. “His progress this year was really amazing to see.” The third running of the camp took place Thursday and Friday on the New Lenox campus and, like last year, members of the boys basketball team donated their time to work with the students. Mokena’s Quinn Kocher has a tug of war with Providence basketball player Gavin Kenny Jan. 2, 2025, at the Super Celtics camp in New Lenox. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown) Brittany brought her other two sons, Quinn and Dean, to this year’s camp. Before Thursday, she showed Shane photos of the previous year’s camp to prep him for what was going to happen. “When I showed him the pictures, he was smiling,” Brittany said. “He was happy. He ran to get his shoes this morning. Normally I have to force him to get out the door. The fact that he was excited to come is great.” Sometimes Shane needs a little quiet time away from people and wears headphones. He didn’t wear the headphones the first year of the camp but brought them this year and wore then for a little while. But they were soon discarded. “The more time he is spending in the gym, the more comfortable he is getting with all of the people,” Brittany said. Not only has Shane progressed, the camp is progressing as well, growing from 16 campers in 2023 to more than 40 this year. Rhett Coglianese smiles before dunking a toy basketball into the hoop at the Super Celtics camp Jan. 2, 2025. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown) Assistant girls basketball coach Jenna Maziur came up with the idea when her special-needs son, Alan, tagged along to a camp to watch his brother, Vinny. “It sparked my idea to make a camp for kids like Alan,” she said. With the help of Celtics girls head coach Eileen Copenhaver and members of the athletic department, it became a reality in early January 2023, during the school break. While most students are away from school, the basketball teams are busy practicing or playing in holiday tournaments. It’s a busy time, but it’s worthwhile to carve out a chunk of time to help the campers, according to boys coach Tim Trendel. “This is what it’s all about,” Trendel said. “This is more important than any win, loss or championship.” He said three days before the event, the Celtics played their final game at the Maine East Holiday Tournament and senior Tyler Cucio stood up and gave a speech about the camp. “He told the younger players that it meant so much to the team and helped bring them together,” Trendel said “He said it should make us thankful for what we have. “It was neat to see one of our guys step up and let the younger guys know how important it was and that we wanted to step up and give our best effort.” Senior Seth Cheney, who has an older brother, Riley, with special needs, has no problem delivering his best effort for the children. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I love doing it,” Cheney said. “It’s the best thing we do here. Giving the kids an opportunity is the best part.” Carina Diorio, a sophomore in the girls program, said this is a highlight of her year. “I think it’s beautiful,” she said. “This is giving these kids an experience for them to have fun and have a space to be comfortable. We all care about them.” Maziur wants the camp to continue to grow even through the increase in three years was a surprise. “It’s a lot of kids. It’s a lot of smiles. It’s a lot of fun and it just keeps growing,” Maziur said. “We are very fortunate that Providence has us host such a wonderful event. It’s always the best two days of the year.” Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.