Farragut girls basketball player with Down syndrome 'always that source of encouragement'

Aaron Torres
Knoxville

Her parents and older sister had always wanted her to be treated like everyone else, so Olivia Campbell, 19, arrived at Farragut’s gym ready to play.

It was early February and Farragut’s girls basketball team was going to play Fulton. It was also senior night and Lady Admirals basketball coach Jason Mayfield was going to start his four seniors — and Olivia was one of them.

Olivia was born with Down syndrome and has low muscle tone, which can make exercise difficult. But she always played sports — swimming at 3, gymnastics at 5,  Special Olympics, golf and baseball at 6. 

She joined Farragut’s basketball team as a freshman, and for the past three years she has sat on the bench during games, ready to support her teammates no matter how they played or if they won.

But on this night against Fulton, it would be her teammates, coaches and fans cheering for her, along with her parents, Jackie and Joe, and her older sister, Natalie.

"I'm so frazzled," Jackie said before the game started.

Olivia Campbell waits with teammates before taking the court before their senior night game against Fulton at Farragut High School Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. This was Olivia's first time starting and playing in a game.

Farragut's cheerleaders stood in a line on the left and right side, like a runway, as the Lady Admiral starters were introduced. Olivia is usually at the end of the runway as the starters run to her and high-five her during introductions, but now it was her turn to be introduced. It was her turn to play. 

"A senior," the announcer said, "Olivia Campbell."

Olivia ran through the runway, she high-fived a team manager, ran to greet the referees and be with the rest of her teammates.

The game began. And Olivia was on the court. 

She positioned herself by the referee near the sideline. Farragut and Fulton went up and down, as both teams tried to hit a shot, but on both ends of the floor, Olivia stood by the referee. She stood by him for the three minutes she was on the court. 

"Ladies," Jackie said as she turned to two parents sitting behind her, "don't worry, the ref was well covered."

Olivia checked back into the game in the fourth quarter, with under five minutes to go. She took a shot, but it was short of the rim and missed. She came out a few possessions later to a roaring ovation. 

Joe Campbell hugs his daughter Olivia as her sister Natalie watches on at halftime of Olivia's senior night game at Farragut High School, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019.

"She was awesome," Mayfield told Olivia's parents after the game. 

Jackie recorded several videos with her phone. She didn't know what to expect when Olivia first joined the team, but she never expected her to play on her senior night. 

"When she was actually out there, it was a bit of a blur because I was just on cloud nine and I couldn't process everything," Jackie said. "(Her teammates) wanted her to be out there to show how hard she's worked in practices and to show that she's part of this team, and it was something beyond what I had even imagined."

Challenges of a child with Down syndrome

When Olivia was about to be born, in October 1999 in Fort Worth, Texas, Jackie imagined she would be with Natalie, who was almost 2 years old, and Olivia at the park by their house a couple of days later. 

From left Joe, Jackie, Natalie and Olivia Campbell, eat lunch in their kitchen Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. On weekends that Natalie is home from the University of Tennessee, the family likes to share a meal together. Olivia helped prepare the chili and cornbread with her dad Joe.

But then Olivia was born and she was in the NICU for a week before Jackie and Joe could take her home. Jackie was driving between Dallas and Fort Worth with Natalie and Olivia, sometimes going to eight different specialists a week. 

Children born with Down syndrome have an extra chromosome and about 1 in 700 babies born in the United States are affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Physical and intellectual development can be affected.

Among the challenges Olivia's parents faced was learning how she was trying to communicate with them. She goes to a speech therapist once a week to improve the clarity of her speech.

"When Olivia was younger and had a lot of episodes of being frustrated and losing her temper and just not being cooperative at school, the assumption was she's a bad kid," Jackie said. "But she didn't have the words or awareness to identify, 'OK, here's how I'm feeling and here's how I need to act on that.'"

Olivia's feedings could take up to an hour because she didn't have strength in the muscles around her mouth and face. When she was learning to stand and walk, she would try and lift herself up using their coffee table, but her ankles and feet were so weak she would fall down. She didn't start walking until she was 2 years and 2 months old. 

"Any child, their life is about building blocks, you establish a certain skill that you master and you build on top of that to the next one, that’s how everyone’s life goes,” Joe said. “For Olivia, the blocks were slower, it took more effort to put that block on there.”

How Olivia Campbell has affected Farragut High School

A basketball signed by Olivia Campbell's teammates sits amongst mementos she keeps on her nightstand in Farragut Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2019.

They family moved to Knoxville in August 2004 because of Joe's job as a global account manager.

When Olivia joined the basketball team three years ago, her parents and Mayfield didn't know what to expect. But as the season wore on her role became clear: she was the one always cheering and supporting the team. 

“She’s always that source of encouragement,” Mayfield said. “I had no idea she would be a source of encouragement like that.”

There are moments when Mayfield will get upset with how the Lady Admirals are playing, and he will raise his voice in the huddle, in the locker room, on the sideline. Olivia will motion for him to lower his voice and tell him to calm down. Sometimes she’ll go hold his hand.

Even though she was diagnosed with Apraxia of speech, a speech sound disorder, which can affect her speech clarity, it doesn't dull the meaning of her words. 

Olivia Campbell gets a kiss from her dog Beau in her living room Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. Olivia was born with Down syndrome and is a senior on Farragut High School's girls basketball team.

In Olivia's first season on the team, Mayfield was so frustrated with how Farragut was playing that he sat on the end of the bench. Olivia went and patted him on the back and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Earlier this season, after Farragut lost to Bearden by 36 points, Mayfield didn't want Olivia to be in the locker room after the game because he wanted remain upset with his team and he didn't want Olivia to calm him down. 

"I didn't need that then," Mayfield said, chuckling. 

She's also encouraging off the court, sometimes going up to a random student and giving them a hug or going to hold their hand as she's about to walk into school.

“I don't know if she senses someone needs a smile or a hug,” Jackie said. "She does not mind showing her affection toward people, and I think a lot of us hide that a little bit because we don't know how it'll be received we don't want to step on toes but Olivia will just boldly go there, give somebody a hug."

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