Tabor Academy will host more than a dozen Special Olympic basketball teams to campus to participate in the school’s first Valentine’s Day Hoops Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 14, beginning at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, taking place in the Fish Center for Health and Athletics at 256 Front St.

The participating teams will come from across the South Coast and Cape Cod. Teams will be a mix of unified teams (a combination of intellectually impaired athletes and partners without intellectual disabilities) and traditional Special Olympics teams. There will be teams in two divisions: ages 13 to 21 and ages 22+.

Tabor Academy students, who have been hosting a young athletes program in conjunction with the Special Olympics each Sunday this fall and winter, will lead the event. Student volunteers do everything from refereeing and managing the scoreboard to running team check-ins and being supportive fans.

The tournament will run in conjunction with the kick-off of Tabor’s R-word Campaign. This national campaign was created to spreads awareness about the stigmas around intellectually impaired people and the damage that the r-word can cause. The R-word Campaign is a pledge that people across the country and the world have taken to eliminate the word “retard(ed)" from their vocabulary.

Director of Communication Kerry Saltonstall said, “Our students are so enthusiastic about this new relationship forged with Special Olympics, and with the athletes and their families. It has become a top service interest on campus. We hope the community will join us and tap into the positive energy and spirit of these games on February 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.”