'It just warms my heart': CMU volleyball hosts autism acceptance match
On Saturday, Central Michigan volleyball secured a weekend sweep, taking down Northern Illinois University in four sets. While a win is always the goal, there was a different goal for this game.
Like many games on the schedule, this one had a theme attached to it, but it was more than that.
The theme was autism acceptance, which hits close to home for head coach Mike Gawlik and his family.
“It means a lot to me,” said Gawlik. “My family connection with my daughter having ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and our families intertwine, my volleyball family our athletes are very much a part of our family. My wife is on our staff as well and to see our whole community and our Central Michigan team come together to put together a really unique and one-of-a-kind event, it just warms my heart.”
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Some people with autism struggle with loud noises such as whistles, yelling, and even music.
To kick off the event the leader of the Autism Spectrum club on campus Alexandria Alma sang the national anthem, which received a standing ovation once she was finished.
During the game to help any individual who may struggle with the noises that come with a volleyball game, a sensory room was created to give a quiet space along with different activities to help relax someone if they needed it.
“Today’s event is half being accessible to people that find themselves on the spectrum and those families who might look at an event like this as being an intimidating event to bring a family member to because it's loud or having to sit in one seat or being quiet at certain moments,” Gawlik said. “And so, to allow families in our community to say hey you are welcome to bring your family here and be what you need, if you need to be in sensory room for a bit, great, if you want to be loud great, and if you want to be moving around there is a pace that you can enjoy.”
The other half of the event was to help people understand a little bit more about what having ASD means.
During game breaks such as timeouts or time between sets, different members of the Autism Spectrum Club were shown on the scoreboard being interviewed by different volleyball players about autism and what they deal with, and what the club they are a part of is all about.
Different facts and quotes about autism were shown on the screen offering more information and provide a better understanding of ASD.
“One of the goals is to educate people,” Gawlik said. “It is unique to everybody, that’s why they call it a spectrum, but I think that when we educate anybody, we help make it a less scary work and maybe that’s a bad way of saying it, but we kind of remove some of the stigma that might be associated with being ignorant to what it is.”
Not only did this event mean so much to Gawlik and his wife, but it meant a lot to his players as well.
“It is so important,” sophomore setter Claire Ammeraal said. “It is so close to him (Gawlik), and he puts a lot into this team, their whole family does. Winnie (Gawlik’s daughter) comes to our practices and is sometimes running around so just knowing the cause behind it makes it so much more valuable.”
While sweeping NIU was a great way to end the weekend, it meant more than that to junior outside hitter Lauren Schrock.
“It just makes us so happy seeing Mike (Gawlik) happy,” Shrock said. “We know how important this was to him tonight, so I feel like that’s just the cherry on top of the night.
