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This is an archive article published on March 25, 2022

Watch: Visually impaired girl scores at a basketball game

Jules Hoogland, 17, from Michigan's Zeeland Public Schools Unified Basketball team is earning plaudits online for her skill and perseverance.

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blind girl basketball video, zeeland schools blind girl basketball score, good news, inclusive sports, indian expressThe crowd along with fellow teammates were seen breaking out into celebrations. (Source: @zeelandschools/ Twitter)

There’s nothing more moving than when people strive together to achieve inclusivity. A beautiful example of this is the crowd at a US high school that went completely silent when a visually-impaired girl aced a shot at a basketball court. The touching moment is now breaking the internet, reassuring people’s hope in humanity.

The spectators at a match in Michigan went quiet so Jules Hoogland, who is visually impaired, could throw the ball through the hoop. Hoogland, who plays for Zeeland Public Schools Unified Basketball, made the shot look like a walk in the park.

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The video shared by the school shows the athlete preparing to score a goal while the crowd sits in total silence. A woman was seen using a large pole to tap the basketball hoop frame so that Hoogland can “hear” where to throw. After a few taps, Hoogland aimed and scored like a pro making the crowd and her fellow teammates go wild.

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The 17-year-old student of Zeeland East High School has successfully made a shot at every game this season, according to MLive. Talking to the local media outlet, Hoogland admitted: “I was really nervous because all these people are staring at me. Luckily, I couldn’t see them staring at me.”

The team which is made of students both with and without disabilities was playing its last game of the season at a school assembly when Hoogland sank her final free throw of the season in front of a crowd of 2,500.

And while it made have looked easy, the highschooler who started playing basketball in middle school said it took time to get a hang of it. “It’s a process, but it’s fun,” she told MLive in an interview. “It is frustrating at times, but I just keep going,” the girl said, who lost her eyesight by the time she was three. However, her perseverance have become a talk of the town.

The video which went viral on Reddit and TikTok left people amazed by her capabilities and caught the attention of even NBA players.

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