ST. AMANT — A St. Amant Middle School student fulfilled a longtime dream with the shot of a lifetime, hitting the hardwood after years of cheering from the sidelines.
Landon Mayer is an 8th grader and the basketball team’s manager. He’s not able to play on the team because he was diagnosed with a genetic condition when he was little.
“Landon was diagnosed at six months with Williams Syndrome,” Mayer’s mom, Janet Mackay, said. “He’s always wanted to do things and be as competitive as all the other children, even though he is delayed a little bit. But he has always pushed himself to go forward and be very competitive.”
According to Cleveland Clinic, Williams Syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental genetic condition. Some of the symptoms include delayed development, cognitive challenges, and cardiovascular abnormalities. It occurs when someone is missing a small piece of chromosome 7, and only affects an estimated 1 in every 10,000 births in the U.S.
Mackay said her nephew, who played basketball at St. Amant, introduced Mayer to the team and the sport.
“They didn’t cut him any slack playing outside of school. He was very competitive with them,” Mackay said. “He came to us and asked if he could be a manager for the St. Amant basketball team, so we emailed Mr. Chad, and he accepted him.”
Off the court, Mayer left his mark on the team. Jackie Tisdell, Ascension Public Schools Communications Director, described Mayer as a beloved team manager who has faithfully supported the team.
But this year, before he heads off to high school, Mayer wanted his chance to hit the hardwood. And on Wednesday night, he got the chance. “His thing this year was just to be able to play one game,” Mackay said. “Mr. Chad was able to pull it together to be able to get it done.”
Not only did Mayer take the court with his teammates, he even scored three goals for a total of six points. It didn’t matter which team the fans were cheering for. When he scored, everyone cheered. “I can’t say thank you enough to everybody,” Mackay said. “It took a village to pull it together, but it was very well done.”
“Landon is our eighth grader, and he loves basketball,” St. Amant Middle School Principal LaToyia Green said. “His mom says that he lives for this sport, and we’re so glad that he had an opportunity tonight to show everybody that Wildcat pride.”
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