Volunteer coaches from the U’s Lowell Bennion Community Service Center led a team of Special Olympics athletes to the Utah Summer Games last weekend where they competed in track and field, cycling and soccer.
The U team brought home 23 medals, and three members of the U team qualified for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games that will be held in February.
“More than winning medals, though, the athletes enjoy traveling and competing together,” said Shelly Thompson, Head of Delegation for the U team and a U Special Education graduate student. “The highlight for all of us was the dance Friday night. These guys really know how to move. The victory dance is always my favorite part of the whole weekend.”
Amanda Wilson, a senior in psychology, has volunteered for the past seven years through the Special Olympics of Utah and started the U team in 2004.
Wilson said the most fun she had this year was watching the athletes compete and enjoy themselves.
“It is amazing to see the athletes work so hard and compete, and it really brings people together,” Wilson said. “I’ve made some of my best friends through Special Olympics.”
Wilson began as a volunteer helping with the Fall Games at the U in 2001. She served as a member of the Fall Games Organizing Committee for the next three years, planning the events and activities in advance.
As a Service Learning Scholar through the Bennion Center, Wilson needed to complete a capstone project addressing a need in the community.
She decided to start a new Special Olympics team for athletes in community, run by students at the U.
The Special Olympics of Utah featured more than 2,000 athletes with about 5,000 volunteers from across the state working each year in planning and executing activities.
The athletes who won a gold medal in their division at the Utah Winter Games qualified for the international level this year.
“I feel very excited and honored to be representing the U.S. at the World Games,” said Dave Worthen, a finalist competing in downhill skiing. “I’m especially looking forward to meeting the athletes from other countries and making friends with them.”
The U student coaches feel just as honored to be involved.
Brittany McDowell, a sophomore in biomedical engineering, was also a coach at the Summer Games this year.
“I’ve been involved in service for several years before,” McDowell said. “And while Special Olympics definitely takes some getting used to, it is a very rewarding experience, more so than any other service that I have ever done.”
The annual Special Olympics Fall Sports Classic, usually held during the first weekend of October, is hosted by the U Bennion Center at the U and includes swimming, bocce and basketball.
To sign up to help coach the U team, e-mail [email protected].
The team starts practice in August.