Closing Ceremonies

Having spent much of the week editing photos, writing, and working, I decided on Friday that I really needed to check out some of the competitions before they all ended. It was a great idea.

Sadly, the great idea was poorly executed.

First up on my list was a rhythmic gymnastics demonstration at the Sports Experience since it was the first to end. I got there just in time to see an exchanging of gifts and no gymnastics.

Bummed that I missed out on that, my next attempt was bocce. Yes, bocce is an official Special Olympics National Games sport. It’s a fun game to play with friends, but it seems like it wouldn’t be the most exciting thing to watch as a spectator. I was unable to find out as I arrived too late for the end of bocce too.

After meeting some friends at a local restaurant, I made my way to powerlifting. Having spent much of Monday watching powerlifting online, I wanted to see it in person. Again, too late. The stage had been set up for awards already. Before the friend I was with had to leave for work, we snapped a few pictures of a couple of athletes who had been posing on stage for pictures.

The closing ceremony, while similar to the opening ceremony, seemed much more laid back. The games were over; the athletes could relax. The cameras zoomed around the arena showing dancing athletes and fans while we waited for the ceremony to start. Multiple groups of fans were running around dancing and clapping trying to pump the crowd up.

The biggest difference between the two ceremonies was that we didn’t have 90 minutes of introducing the teams this time. As they arrived, teams were escorted to their area and began enjoying themselves.

Much of the ceremony was spent listening to musical acts and local/state celebrities, as well as a few people from the Special Olympics.

One group of presenters was my clear favorite during the event. A group of youth representatives spoke multiple times. They were there on behalf of Project Unify, a project of the Department of Education and the Special Olympics that aims to promote acceptance of those with intellectual disabilities amongst today’s youth. They are also involved in the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign dedicated to ending colloquial use of the word “retard.”

Airlift Departure

The very last activity of the 2010 Special Olympics National Games came Saturday. One week after the athletes arrived, they hopped back onto Cessna Citations and flew away from Lincoln.

I hope the athletes, coaches, family members, and volunteers all had a great week here. I didn’t spend nearly enough time at events throughout the week, but I’m glad I made it to what I did.

Special Olympics Town

I made my way over to Special Olympics Town on Thursday.

Special Olympics Town was a combination of two events at Pershing Auditorium: Sports Experience and Fan Fest. Both events are designed to allow the athletes, families, and general public to interact with one another.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to experience much of Sports Experience as, to our surprise after arriving, my friends and I had chosen to go to Special Olympics Town the same evening that a party was being thrown for the volunteers who helped run the events throughout the week.

We did, however, spend a little bit of time in there. The inside of the auditorium had pool tables, foosball tables, ping pong tables, and a number of Wii consoles set up for Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. Two of our group played a little Wii Sports bowling until everyone was kicked out for the volunteer party.

Outside was Fan Fest. Vendors lined one block of M Street and part of 14th Street. Near the end of the block on M was a stage where musical acts had been performing all week were The Landsharks.

I loved the feeling of inclusion at the Fan Fest. While people did stick largely to their friends, athletes with their teammates, and so forth, I didn’t notice the usual stigma against those with intellectual disabilities that is often present. A girl with us was asked by at least three different athletes to dance; every time, she quickly left the group and went and danced with the guy without pausing to think about it. She was not alone. She is just one of many people who helped create an environment where the athletes were, aside from team uniforms and badges/medals around their necks, indistinguishable from the members of the public who came out.

Healthy Athletes is an almost behind the scenes event at the Special Olympics National Games. According to the Guest handbook, Healthy Athletes was established to help athletes improve their training and competition by focusing on overall health and fitness. “Athletes have enhanced sports experiences and improved well-being as a result of receiving critical health services.” These words sound good but are pretty generic. I am definitely a fan of actions over words. Yesterday, I was privileged to tour Healthy Athletes. Let me tell you what these words mean to Special Olympics and the athletes.

Our first stop was the Nutrition area. This started with athletes taking Milk Mustache photos.  After the photo stop, athletes receive a non-invasive bone density screening. Many of the athletes take medications that make osteoporosis a concern, which makes this screening very important. Next stop is a blood pressure screening. With some basic health information in hand, the athletes then participate in Nutritional Education designed with their specific needs in mind. These messages are taught and reinforced with interactivity and games. We got to play with Rubber eggs and beans. They also learn about Sun Safety and the effects of smoking. I especially liked the smoking display with two lungs, one bright red and healthy, the other black with emphysema. Makes me glad I don’t have that habit.

Our next stop was the Dental area. Here athletes learned about proper dental care as well as receiving a cleaning and flossing. This even included mouth-guard fitting for athletes in contact type sporting events. A separate area, that we did not view, had around a dozen dental chairs with athletes receiving more extensive dental care. Did I mention that this is all done Free for the athletes?

The next area that caught my eye was Opening Eyes (pun intended). Here athletes receive eye exams. For those needing vision correction, prescriptions are ordered, made and glasses fittings are done on site. The lenses are ground ‘on site’. I can’t decide if this is Awesome! or Amazing! Athletes not needing vision correction received a free pair of designer sunglasses.

In another quieter area, similar things were happening with athletes in regard to their hearing. Free fitted hearing-aids will be traveling back to several states with some very thankful athletes.
One of our final stops was Fit Feet. Here athletes received professional foot care. This also included checking for proper measurement for fit and gait and a new pair of shoes.

I know how long it has taken to prepare for the National Games in Lincoln. I am amazed at the countless number of staff, volunteers and hours that have gone into coordinating events, venues, accommodations, travel and a myriad of other details putting on an event this size takes. I can’t imagine the time, effort and number of people involved that it took to put on a week of Healthy Athletes. My hat is tipped and off to the nameless people who are responsible for providing these amazing athletes with this amazing care. It is times like this, I am extra proud to be an American.

Red Cross and Softball

On Wednesday, I met a friend at Fleming Fields to check out some of the S.O.N.G. softball.

During the drive, I wondered what I could possibly write about. With the few exceptions of games that are done rarely in a competitive manner, such as bocce and flag football, there isn’t anything different in a Special Olympics game compared to a non-Special Olympics game. Yes, all the athletes have intellectual disabilities, but that doesn’t stop them from being great athletes. I’m sure any one of them could beat me at any of these sports—even the ones they ones they don’t compete in.

What could I write about then? Lucky for me, there was some less common excitement to be found.

The friend I went with is attending various Special Olympics events to take pictures for her work, the regional chapter of the Red Cross. When I caught up with her, she pointed out an injured athlete who was soon to be taken to the hospital.

The athlete had lost feeling in one of his feet. The volunteers and nurse on-site had iced the foot, and soon the first group of Lincoln Fire & Rescue arrived to stabilize it. A few minutes later, a second group arrived with an ambulance, moved the athlete to a stretcher, and took him to the emergency room.

After the ambulance was gone, the nurse and volunteers had a chance to attend to the players who had come over with less serious injuries (scrapes and cuts). It’s nice to see a tent full of volunteers spending the day making sure that any injuries, even as minor as a scraped up elbow, are properly treated.

After we left the Red Cross tent, we went to check out the last bit of the games. Two of the four games had ended and one was just finishing. I made sure to snap a few photos of the game to the left as it’s of my home state playing, and I think winning. Go team South Dakota!

Monday: Powerlifting

Early on Monday morning I saw a tweet with a link to a live video stream for powerlifting. I figured I’d give it a shot since I could watch it from my living room.

The lifting wasn’t terribly exciting to me. Everything from fairly small amounts to 155 kg (roughly 341 lbs) was lifted in various competitions. What I did really enjoy watching was the awards ceremony afterwards.

The awards started out a bit rocky, with winners being lined up in the wrong order and thus standing in the wrong spots, but after a few awards they had that sorted out.

There are two reasons I really loved the awards.

First, one of the presenters was Michael Sarver. Sarver was a top 10 finalist for the eighth season of American Idol and was one of the celebrities to perform at the opening ceremony. I was happy to see that he stayed past the opening ceremony and is helping out with at least one competition.

Second, the athletes show amazing sportsmanship. During the awards, I saw them applaud for each other, shake hands, fist bump, give each other high fives, pat each other on the back, and encourage the audience to cheer for one another. I am, admittedly, not a sports person, but I don’t recall seeing so much support for competitors as I did during the lifting awards.

Opening Ceremony

Like many major sporting events, the Special Olympics National Games has opening and closing ceremonies. Arriving at the opening ceremony, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew that there would be various celebrities present, but beyond that all I knew was that I wanted to see it.

What I didn’t see coming was that, of the two and a half hours for the event, the first hour and a half was spent introducing the teams. Alphabetically, every state that is participating (except Nebraska, who went last) was mentioned and then their entire team did a tunnel walk (complete with fog machines!), following a member of a law enforcement agency from their state and one or more other representatives: politicians, celebrities, or people involved in the Special Olympics from their state.

After all of the teams were introduced, the remainder of the time was spent with presentation of flags, the national anthem, musical performances, pre-taped stories of exceptional Special Olympics athletes, and speeches by various politicians, Special Olympics representatives, and celebrities.

The one thing that I really liked about it was that they had a motivational speaker come. While it could very well be something he says to all of the groups he speaks to, he told the crowd that this was the most motivated group he had come to speak to. The crowd was already very motivated and full of energy.