Senior Night is a night that athletes of all sports look forward to each year. Seniors can celebrate their accomplishments while reminiscing on the memories they made together. At the same time, underclassmen thank seniors for their commitment to the sport and wish them luck on their future endeavors. It’s a night you can celebrate with your teammates, family and friends, regardless of your athletic ability. This year the Stoughton Football Team, headed up by Coach Jason Becker, paid special tribute to SHS senior Ethan Falk, who Becker describes as one of the team’s most valuable players.

Falk was born with Down syndrome, but he has learned to live with his diagnosis and hasn’t let it get in his way. Becker first got to know Ethan when he coached his older brother nearly eight years ago. So when Ethan and his family wanted to get him involved with the football program, Becker was eager to make Falk a part of the team. At first, Falk supported the team as one of their team managers, a job Becker explains Falk excelled at. “Ethan was helping us out throughout the week at practices. He was doing a phenomenal job, like really took a lot of pride in it, overall just doing really great things.” Becker said.

As the season went on, Becker saw an opportunity to make Falk even more a part of the team: having Falk suit up for senior night with the rest of his teammates. With the team and Falk’s parents eager to help, Falk was ready to take the field and couldn’t have been more excited. “The night was almost perfect,” Becker said. When asked about the night, he turned to a simple yet powerful quote Falk said after the game, “[Falk] said to his mom, ‘Mom, I’m a Viking,’ and that means everything to me. He felt like he was truly a part of our program,” Becker said.

Falk’s involvement on the team has meant more than just getting to gear up for a game and attending the team’s practices. Becker says that Falk sets an example for what athletics should look like. “One of the things I love about football is that we can help each individual find their value … it went to show everybody the importance of being included and feeling valued,” Becker said.

, another SHS senior believes that Falk’s involvement was just as meaningful to the rest of his teammates as it may have been to Falk himself. “Ethan brings a very joyful energy that we often need around. When we have a guy that loves to joke around, loves to have fun and always has a smile on his face, it really helps us out.”

Rousseau has known Falk for years and has had a special relationship since elementary school. “We’ve been best buds since about third grade. We’ve eaten lunch together, we are always joking around with each other and when he finally was able to come out to practice and join the team, we enjoyed every second of it,” Rousseau said.

After all, we are a football team, Rousseau explained, and incorporating Falk into that team was something that he, Becker, and the rest of his teammates tried to do as best they could.
“We’re a very family-based team… and incorporating Ethan into our family was very cool,” Rousseau said.

Including Falk and other students with disabilities is important to Becker because, like all students, athletics offer individuals an opportunity to grow and come out of their comfort zone.
“Over Ethan’s four years in our building, it [his involvement on the team] has made him much more willing to socialize with anybody and everybody… The skills and success that he’s had in the football team and growing his own abilities are only going to carry him well in life,” Becker said.

Becker notes that football and all sports should be a place for every student to feel valued and accepted. “This shows that you can find ways to involve students. All students have value and all students have purpose. If you’re willing to put in the work to make something happen, then you are going to have great success, and you’re going to provide them with an opportunity equivalent to their peers,” Becker said.