1. The athletes are of all ages. One of the first things that I saw was middle aged participants. On TV you always see young adults and kids, but there were participants in their 60s.
2. The athletes are really into the events. I watched a pair of them diagnose their performances with each other.
3. For the most part, the volunteers were unrelated to the athletes. There were lots of students from the university that hosted the events and plenty of folks from local Kiwanis clubs.
4. The recurring theme from the volunteers was "God has been so good to me, I want to give some of that back."
5. Point Loma Nazarene University was the host. The students certainly lived up to their Christian principles.
6. Everyone had fun. Here's a typical photo from the event.
7. The athletes had been practicing for the events. The shotput contestants had great form. Here's a picture of one.
8. Whatever you think of race relations in the US, this event certainly said good things about how we get along. Disabilities are rare enough to make it nearly impossible to have a race-based Special Olympics. For example, a hispanics-only Special Olympics would be too small to be interesting. The volunteers and participants cared only for each other. Here's one of my favorite shots.
Click on the photo for a larger version. It was a murky day so there wasn't enough light to get the coach's features in a small jpg. A larger one shows them better.
9. If you went some distance from the event and looked back you saw America. All races and creeds working together to help each other.
10. I need to work on my photography. In every single shot I cut off the people's feet. I center the photo on the head when I should probably be aiming at the chest.
11. The event was very well organized. I didn't realize it until long afterwards, but the whole thing went very smoothly.
12. It's a tough, unending job being a parent of a disabled person. This event seemed to be a welcome, fun respite for them.
13. This was enormous fun. I'm coming up with all kinds of other groups to visit and blog about.
Other Thursday 13 Sites
Eve lists the 13 video games she likes to play.
When Caryn gets bored, here are 13 things she choses from.
Cheeky gives us 13 alternatives to swearing.
Annie lists 13 springtime flowers she likes.
Robin gives us 13 lessons from college.
Yellow Roses has 13 things she can't live without.
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Happy TT :)
ReplyDeleteWow. This was fascinating! Thanks for the insight into the Special Olympics. It was heartwarming, really. I loved hearing (and seeing!) that people got along so well. Why can't we get along so well in the rest of the world???
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful - I haven't had an opportunity to volunteer at a special olympics but my hubby has -
ReplyDeleteWe can learn a lot from these wondeful people!
I played too!
That was a really interesting TT. Thanks for commenting on my blog too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, I have a friend who goes to this all the time for her cousin. I guarantee they'd all kick my ass.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful TT!! Thank you for sharing with us such a special day! I love the photos! As they say, "A picture speaks a million words!"
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday!
Such a great post special olympics. Thanks for sharing and stopping by my TT.
ReplyDeleteThe Special Olympics are a joy to watch. A good friend of mine helps out at the one we have here in Hawai'i. And it really gives me pleasure to see how hard they try and how happy they are to participate. Thank you for sharing and for stopping by my TT.
ReplyDelete"Disabilities are rare enough to make it nearly impossible to have a race-based Special Olympics. For example, a hispanics-only Special Olympics would be too small to be interesting."
ReplyDeleteWhy do you feel compelled to politicize a simple event with this comment? There is something wrong with your thinking! Unbelievable!
Jayne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by to visit. All of my photos are filled with smiling faces. Almost all of them were candid where the people didn't know they were being photographed. You're absolutely right, there's a kind of spiritual euphoria to the event.
Nice! I used to love shotput and javelin! I was pretty good at them. That's cool that they give disabled people a chance to do the same things as everyone else - like compete against their peers.
ReplyDeleteOur group has done the Special Olympics for several years and we always have the adults (ages 18 and up). We've had a couple of participants in their 60s and they were just excited about being there as the 'kids'.
ReplyDeleteI think the volunteers get more out of it than the participants - it's just so heart warming.
So cool. I have a friend whose husband coaches Special Olympics in San Diego. He loves it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my T13.