Special Olympics Tauranga Club have high hopes for their basketball team, the Swifts, at the Freemasons New Zealand Special Olympics National Summer Games.

The games are taking place next week in Hamilton.

Those hopes are not unfounded when you consider the team have worked hard to climb from C-grade up to A-grade, and at its core are three 'feisty” females known as ‘KAM'.

Bronwen Kuipers, Tauranga Basketball & Powerlifting Manager, explains that 'these girls are all amazing, they're all feisty. We've got a team of 10 - three of our girls have cerebral palsy and can only play with one arm…they are really good at what they do”. The trio Kuipers refers to as ‘KAM' are Krystal, Alice and Morgan.

Having cerebral palsy or not having the use of a limb certainly doesn't hold back any of them.

'I come from a sporty family, and was a triplet from a very supportive family,” says Krystal Lambert.

'Special Olympics has given me confidence, being part of a team. I feel brave, taking on the stronger athletes in stronger teams.”

When asked to elaborate further, Lambert says; 'being part of the team also makes me look at other areas of my life, my health, my eating issues and exercising, keeping fit”.

Sixteen-year-old Alice Sampson has played basketball since she was 10.

'I love to play basketball and I've been sporty since I was younger. I love making new friends and having a laugh at basketball but also playing hard.

'I really like winning ribbons and medals for collection. Playing for Special Olympics basketball has really helped with my confidence and makes me very happy; everyone says I'm always smiling.” Commenting on Sampson's age compared to others in the team, Kuipers notes 'don't be fooled by Alice, she's a grunty little thing”.

Morgan Penny is 25 years old and has been in Special Olympics since she was 10.

Her greatest achievement has been to compete at the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Games in the New Zealand basketball team.

When asked how she would describe herself, Penny says; 'determined, a team player and supplying encouragement”.

In Kuipers words, 'Morgan is one of the most enjoyable athletes in the team, she is a character, always smiling, cracking jokes, encouraging other team members”.

And while the ‘KAM' trio are a core part of the team, it's the 'fun and fooling around” that helps to make them so special.

The team's coach Tina Maitland comments that 'Tauranga Special Olympics Basketball Team is unlike any other team I have ever coached. We are not just a team; we are a whanau,” says team coach Tina Maitland.

'The mixed and complex group of disabilities throughout the team, means we are able to adapt to each player's strengths and weaknesses.

'No matter what the disability, we have gelled together both on the court and off the court to become one.”

Asked what their main goal is for the Games, Maitland is quick to reply.

'To show the world just how incredible they are, and that when you believe you can achieve anything.”