Oklahoma Special Olympics
By: Ethan Adkins
Sports are one of the few things that can unite an ever-so-divisive world. People from different backgrounds, states, and countries can all unite together behind sports, whether that's watching them or playing them. However, not everyone is born with the ability to play sports like everyone else. Some kids are born with Down syndrome or with cerebral palsy, but how do they get to participate in sports? What's available for them?
Special Olympics is a global organization that aims to bring unity, passion, and competition to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Here in Oklahoma, we have a chapter of the organization to support kids and adults who want to participate in sports in a safe, comfortable environment.
On the Special Olympics Oklahoma website, they state their mission statement as, “The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
Many schools around Oklahoma participate in the Special Olympics. I sat down with both Jenks and Sapulpa to further understand how Special Education works and what we can do to ensure sports can unite people from everywhere.
When I first started researching this, I was curious how it all worked. When do they compete in each sport? Well, there are two different seasons for competing, a fall and a spring season. Each season has a variety of different sports in which they compete during that time. For example, during the fall, they play bowling, soccer, basketball, football, and swimming. During the spring, they play baseball, cornhole, and track/field.
I still had a huge question about all of this, though: how does all of this get funding, and how does funding for the program work?
Madison Noble is a special education teacher at the Sapulpa Middle School. Her job is assisting kids with special needs while they are at school. She also plays a huge part in the Special Olympics at the Sapulpa School District.
“Funding can work two ways. One way we fund our team is through a grant from the Bartlett Foundation. When that is not available, the school district provides funds,” Noble said.
The funding they do receive goes toward things like shirts, uniforms, where they get to practice, what they can all do at tournaments, where they can stay when they do go to competitions, and what they can eat.
Unfortunately, the past few years have been rough for the program at Sapulpa, and they have not been able to get the proper funding. This means they rely heavily on fundraisers to be able to fund all the things that the Special Olympics has to offer.
Zooming back into our hometown, let’s take a closer look at our own Special Olympics program. As mentioned previously, the team plays during two seasons, and right now is an exceptionally busy time for them.
“We’re currently doing soccer, football, and basketball all at the same time. We are having practices nearly every day of the week,” said Melissa Housley, a special education teacher and head of the Jenks Special Olympics program.
One of the big ways the program here at Jenks is able to do so much is through a club we have called Project Unify.
“Project Unify is the club we have here at school for students who want to work with kids with special needs. They’re general education kids along with our special needs students, that talk about different activities that we’re going to do to support Special Olympics," said Housley.
One of the cool things Project Unify does is, during the winter, they put on a fundraiser where they take on the polar plunge. For the fundraiser, half of the proceeds they receive end up going to the team.
One of my final questions I had after researching and talking to both teachers was how we can further support the Special Olympics. They both gave close to the same answer, and that was by volunteering. The tournaments and events they participate in cannot run if we don’t have people volunteering, making sure they are able to run. A few other things you can do are donate to the Oklahoma Special Olympics, or you could also sign up for Project Unify.
“[You] can come down during advisory or before/after school to room 650, and we will get their name and information,” said Housley.
Special Olympics goes beyond giving people with special needs the opportunity to participate and compete in sports. It gives people a place to feel welcomed, supported, and like they belong somewhere. Even if you aren’t involved with Special Olympics, there are things we can do to ensure that the atmosphere of unity, supportiveness, and welcome is around our campus. It starts with watching what we say and how we act, not just when we’re around someone with special needs but when we’re not. Being kind, supportive, and open-minded to everyone is a huge step in the mission of the Special Olympics.
