The Hamilton County Unified Basketball team.

JASPER, Fla. — It was 11 years ago that the Hamilton County Special Olympics Basketball Team traveled to China and returned home with a gold medal.

Hamilton County is back and looking for gold once agin. The Hamilton County High School Unified Team — with five special needs players and five helpers — had a sendoff Friday as they waved goodbye to the community before heading to Seattle, Washington, for the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games.

“It’s like deja vu,” said Mike Cohen, who was the team’s coach in 2007 and will be coaching once again. “It seems like we were just doing this a couple of years ago,” said Cohen.

“It’s great. Everyone is excited. If you turn on to ESPN you can see the hometown team doing what we do.”

Helen Udell, Hamilton County Special Olympics Coordinator, has been involved in the Special Olympics for more than 20 years — first as a volunteer, then a fundraiser coordinator and now as county coordinator. She was in China in 2007 and will be with the team in Seattle.

“I truly thank Hamilton and the surrounding counties for supporting us,” Udell said. “It does take money to go to these places.”

Cohen said that whoever wins the tournament will qualify for the World Games in 2020 in Dubai.

Hamilton County won its first game, defeating Tennessee 63-12 on Monday.