Curious Parents Parenting Resources

special child

What’s Special about the Special Olympics?
By Lori Samlin Miller

After enjoying the winter holidays and settling into our cold weather routines, many athletes in New Jersey have already turned their attention to spring training. Twenty swimmers in South Jersey who make up the team called the SPARCS have already started preparing for this upcoming season. Twice each week, from January until June, the swimmers will travel to Rowan University’s indoor pool to practice so they can offer their best competitive strokes at New Jersey’s Special Olympic summer games that will be held the first weekend in June.

Last June, The College of New Jersey once again hosted the very popular Special Olympics summer games. For the more than 8,000 athletes, volunteers, and spectators who came together for the ceremonies and competitive sports, the weekend’s events represented society’s ability to showcase and respect the best efforts of the athletes these games served. Everyone who participated felt like a winner.

 The Special Olympics of New Jersey provides year round athletic training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Around this massive non-profit organization, a galaxy of volunteers serve in various capacities. They serve in very visible positions, or quietly behind the scenes, overseeing and carrying out the training, coaching, supervision, and hospitality required of this large-scale operation. The Special Olympics of New Jersey is organized to give the 2,500 individual athletes and their teams a chance to represent themselves, their schools, or town at the state level. One of the swimmers from the SPARCS team has gone all the way to China for the world-wide Special Olympics competition.

In addition to the many obvious physical benefits the athletes receive, the most profound positive payoffs occurred off the field. In uniting this wide cross section of our society, the volunteers and spectators have opportunities to increase and display their respect and understanding of the athletes who assemble. Recognition of the abilities and challenges exhibited by the performers gives a sense of the roadblocks that must be accepted and met on the road to success.

Being exposed to these Special Olympians, the people who volunteer and watch better understand and appreciate the daily lives and triumphs that exist for the Special Olympics. The goal throughout the Special Olympics is to applaud those best efforts and to extend a kind hand and a loving heart towards the athletes rather than emphasizing or expecting perfection.

Following his keynote address at the opening ceremonies held in New Jersey on June 1, 2007, The Rutgers University football coach, Greg Schiano, took the opportunity to develop and extend relationships between his own team, which he brought with him, and the Special Olympians he addressed. By introducing these different groups of athletes to one another, and allowing them to interact, the coach helped break down any barriers that previously may have existed. In that way, Coach Schiano did more to improve relationships and understandings between those two very different teams than any words the coach could have accomplished, simply by reinforcing the simple truth: what all athletes have in common is greater than the differences that set them apart.

Such opportunities for extending understanding really make the Special Olympics everywhere a win-win situation. Understanding and respecting the individual efforts and abilities of others happens best on a one person at a time basis. The desire to play and to win may be a universal condition, but one that is experienced differently by those with differing abilities or challenges. Helping others strive to succeed is a sure pathway to learning to respect their unique abilities and challenges.

In many ways, we are defined as a society by the occasions and causes that stir us to rally around others. Just as the Special Olympics bring so many people together, it also mirrors the tolerance, respect, and appreciation that each individual member holds in the heart. Our involvement and efforts with these events show us what is good about each other. And, that helps us reflect about what is innately good in ourselves: when we appreciate the best efforts the Special Olympian athletes display, our excitement for their success and accomplishments allows us to see the best that is in each one of us.

And Pennsylvania is no different. The efforts of their state chapter are no less significant—and they have a great winter event coming up from Feb. 24- 27. More than 300 athletes and 150 coaches from across Pennsylvania travel to the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Winter Games in the Johnstown area each year. This statewide event features intense competition in alpine and cross-country skiing, figure and speed skating events. It requires volunteers from around the state to serve as officials, athlete escorts, award presenters, and in various other ways. Spectators are welcome to visit any of the competition venues and cheer on the athletes. 

Lori Samlin Miller is a teacher, consultant, and writer who specialize in health, educational, and human-interest topics. You can reach the author at LoriSammil@yahoo.com.