Down syndrome high schooler makes impact playing sports in Phoenix

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Sometimes, the most memorable and impactful touchdowns scored by a high school football player on a Friday night don’t actually affect who wins or loses the game.

The football team at Veritas Preparatory Academy in Phoenix and its fans know this all too well.

 Wesley Jackson is a senior running back for the Falcons, who fellow senior Christian Dominguez describes as “definitely the light and the soul of this team.”

The 18-year-old was born with Down syndrome, but that really didn’t change the way his parents raised him.

Wes’ dad, Robert, says the genetic disorder is a limitation, cognitively and physically, but that’s all.

“It’s the frame, right,” he says. “It’s the backdrop, in a sense, to Wes.”

It’s not a barrier to everything life offers, though.

“We just wanted to, wherever possible, bring [Wes] into the mainstream, says Robert.

One of those places was sports. Wes, the middle of five children, followed in his siblings’ footsteps and started playing team sports at an early age.

Robert says that was to remind Wes he was part of the family like everyone else, to keep him healthy, connect him to peers, and also “give him a sense of what was possible for him. A sense of agency. ‘I can do this.’”

Wes suits up in full pads for every Falcons football practice and participates in as many drills as he can. That includes conditioning.

“[Mom and dad] want him in on everything,” says Veritas Prep head coach Mike Sanfratello. “They don’t want him standing on the sideline. They don’t want him slacking.”

Robert points out that Wes “learns, as we all do, by imitation. We want him looking the part and playing the part, so that he understands he’s a part of this team.”

 “He can do hard things. He can do burpees and lunges and whatever the team is doing. He’s part of the team, he’s got to do all the practices,” Wes’s mom, Heidi, said. 

A couple of times a year, all that hard work pays off for Wesley.

On the football field in the fall, he’ll take a handoff at the end of the game and make a beeline for the end zone.

Oftentimes, that play ends with him being lifted up by his teammates and the opponent as everyone chants his name.

“There’s just this sort of love that’s there,” says Falcons senior James Seoane. “And this really strong sense that you want to protect him and that you want to give him everything.”

It’s a similar scene on the basketball court in the winter.

Wes will check in to the game and get a shot, or several shots, late in the fourth quarter.

He regularly makes those shots, including from three-point range.

Wes has been told that the word is out that he’s a pretty good shooter.

“I am. I’m a good shooter,” West said.

 Back on the grass, on Senior Night at Veritas Prep in early November, Wes is in uniform for one last home game.

As the Falcons cruise to a win, he can be seen dancing and singing on the sideline.

“He’s usually got a tune, either literally in his ears or playing over the speakers, and he’s jamming and he’s dancing. It’s contagious. It’s a great contagion,” Robert said.

“What he lacks because of his disability, he makes up for in effort, personality, and humor,” Heidi added.

 As his playing career winded down, Wes got one more shot at glory.

On the last play of the regular season, he ran for more than 50 yards for what is likely his last high school touchdown.

The crowd in Phoenix roared and chanted his name one last time.

 “Community is king here,” says Sanfratello. “And the smiles on the faces, everybody’s happy. And whether we win or we lose, it just kind of puts everything in the right perspective. There’s a lot more going on here than just what the scoreboard says. The friendships, the relationships in the community, [are] going to last forever.”

Wes was asked what it felt like when everyone picked him up and put him on their shoulders, and he had a simple answer.

“I feel like they love me,” he said.

“It is one of those moments where you just think, we couldn’t have dreamt it, right? We couldn’t have imagined that it would be this good. It really does touch you. It’s moving. The fact that the community embraces him so warmly – I mean, what more could you ask for?” Robert said as he thought about that scene.

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