By Kerri Linsenbigler
Features Assignment Editor
“If you believe in acceptance, empowerment, opportunity and fun, you are already a fan of Special Olympics.”
According to the Special Olympics New York volunteer handbook, volunteering with Special Olympics creates a strong connection with athletes even after the games end. At St. Bonaventure, faculty and students are doing just that.
“I have a son with Down syndrome,” said Carl Case, a professor of business information and a local Special Olympics coach. “I guess it’s probably been the last 10 or 12 years I’ve been heavily involved.”
Special Olympics is a year-round athletic program for those with intellectual disabilities. Athletes can compete at the local, regional, national and international levels. New York’s chapter is the largest in the U.S., with almost 56,000 athletes.
Special Olympic sports are split into two levels — individual skills and team competition — Case said. Case primarily taught volleyball skills until enough of his athletes were ready to form a team three years ago. That’s when St. Bonaventure’s role expanded greatly.
“(Case) approached us with the possibility that they were looking for a place to practice for their volleyball team,” said Paula Scraba, associate professor of physical education. “We tied it in with my coaching class (PHED 310). In March, they get trained in the volleyball clinic and in April they coach the athletes. And Neal Johnson (‘73, president and CEO of Special Olympics New York) comes into that class and talks more about the philosophy of coaching Special Olympics.”
Case said his team practices for six weeks before participating in a regional competition May 12 at Canisius College.
“The athletes just love working with the students,” Case said. “It gives students experience dealing with individuals with disabilities. They see individuals with disabilities are just like everyone else.”
Since its original foundation in volleyball, Bonaventure’s involvement with Special Olympics has expanded to soccer and basketball.
Scraba, a coordinator for Special Olympic programs on campus, said the women’s soccer team ran a clinic for the local Special Olympic team the last two years. This is the first year there will be a basketball clinic held on campus, she said. The men’s and women’s basketball teams will host the clinic, which will include 10 Special Olympic teams from around Western New York, April 21.
The clinic will be broken into a morning skills session and an afternoon of unified games, Scraba said.
“Unified games are when athletes with and without disabilities are mixed on the same team,” Scraba said. “So it’s kind of cool.”
Coaches’ training clinics are open to the public and held each year, Scraba said. Anyone interested is encouraged to get involved.
“In terms of coaching, we call it reverse integration,” Scraba said. “It provides a peer for these young adults, like a role model.”
Case agreed.
“It gives them a social component in their lives that they don’t normally get,” he said. “It’s one of the most fun things I do. If you ask the students who participate, I think they’d tell you it was a great experience for them, too. They learn that our athletes are very capable.”
linsenka10@bonaventure.edu
