On Saturday, March 4, 2023, a unified basketball team consisting of students from Woolfolk Middle School and Yazoo City High School competed in the Special Olympics State Basketball Competition at the Sanderson Center on the campus of Mississippi State University. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: Training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding. The event was organized by Mrs.Linda Payne who serves as the Director of Special Education for the Mississippi Achievement School District. Mrs. Payne introduced the Mississippi Achievement School District (MASD), which governs the Yazoo City Municipal School District and the Humphreys County School District, to the Special Olympics of Mississippi in the Fall of 2020. Mrs. Payne who also volunteers as the Director of Area 15 for the Special Olympics recruited Coach Darren Robinson with the help of the MASD Athletic Director Mr. AnthonyWoolfolk. From the beginning, Coach Robinson claimed this was the year of the Gold for the Yazoo City School District and he expected no less from his team. He named the team the Yazoo City Warriors
The team was composed of the following students from Woolfolk Middle School: Damium Scott, Letraveion Burns, Keirons Davis, Cedric Ross, Bradyn Alexander, Cameron Crosby, and Omarion Freeman. Dquarius Cathey was the only student from Yazoo City High School who participated. . . Although the opposing team was much more experienced, Coach Robinson successfully led the team to victory. The Yazoo Warriors quickly got the attention of the crowd with their skills and the way they hustled up and down the basketball court. The team was so cohesive it was hard to believe the team was formed after February 17, 2023. Coaches from other unified teams stated they look forward to playing the Yazoo City Warriors in the future. There is another exciting opportunity for the student athletes in the near future. On June 9, 2023, the Yazoo City Warriors will compete against teams from districts across the state of Mississippi in the ESPN Basketball Competition on the campus of Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi. Continuous victories in the future will enable the Yazoo City Warriors to represent the state of Mississippi and the Mississippi Achievement School District - Yazoo City at the national level in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games at the University of Minnesota and other locations across the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.