About

Mission

The mission of Worthington Special Olympics is to provide sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. This provides 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.

Organization

Worthington Special Olympics is an accredited program of Special Olympics Ohio. Worthington Special Olympics is a part of the Special Olympics Ohio tax exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All leadership and coaches are volunteers. Oversight and direction is provided by a Parent Advisory Committee that meets once a month.

Special Olympics History by Sara Swart

Special Olympics is a nonprofit athletic program offered to children and adults who have intellectual disabilities. The program gives them a yearround option to train in a certain sport, and also provides the opportunity to participate in multiple competitions throughout the year. Special Olympics was started by previous president, John F. Kennedy’s sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Shriver strongly believed that children with intellectual disabilities were not treated as fairly as children without disabilities. In fact, she had a younger sister, Rosemary, who had an intellectual disability. Shriver and Rosemary enjoyed playing different sports during their free time. With that in mind, Shriver started a camp called "Camp Shriver" in her backyard. This camp offered multiple sports and physical activities for those with intellectual disabilities. This was the beginning of Special Olympics. Special Olympics is different than regular olympics because the athletes that participate in it have an intellectual disability and there are no qualifying times required, rather than regular olympics that requires a qualifying time.

Today Special Olympics is offered in over 150 countries, including the United States. In Worthington, there are a wide variety of sports and athletics offered to Special Olympics athletes, including aquatics, bowling, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, track and field, golf and powerlifting . In each sport, most of the athletes have 12 practices per week. Depending on the sport and athlete, the number of competitions vary from 15 competitions per season. The major competition for most of the sports is the States Game or Meet. This competition is typically at the end of the season and is when all the athletes can show off all their hard work that has accumulated over the season.

It is clear that Worthington Special Olympics is a valuable and progressing program, but what makes it valuable is not just the facts about why it exists and who it supports, but how the coaches, athletes and parents feel about the program. The true value of WSO is what it means to those involved and why they enjoy it. With the help of Kathi Machle, an organizer for the WSO, all athletes, families and coaches received a questionnaire asking about WSO.

One question that was asked to the coaches was how do you encourage your athletes to do better? The most repeated phrase from coaches surveyed was to offer continued encouragement along with positive reinforcement and feedback. One coach said he does warmups right along with the athletes in order to encourage them and offer tips about proper form. Another coach brings small prizes under $5.00 to reward sportsmanship and effort. No matter each athlete’s score at the end of the day, they are all praised, and all will get a prize at one time or another.

Participants in the survey were asked was what they enjoy the most about their sport. Many of the athletes said that the friendships they have because of their sport was one of the biggest reasons they enjoy WSO. Other reasons were the excitement of competitions, the nice coaches and the health benefits of keeping in shape. One very important benefit of WSO is the fact that athletes are part of a team; they learn how to be good team players. This is a skill that is important throughout life from school age through adulthood.

Parents of WSO athletes were asked to describe in one phrase what WSO means to them. One parent said "the participation in WSO provides joy for [her] son." Another parent commented that WSO "gains respect, appreciation, tolerance, and love for all human beings." Also, the "WSO helps my child develop a positive self image and helps expand relationships among others." A phrase that stood out among the other responses explained that WSO "provides an opportunity for our kids to shine and be celebrated for what they can do instead of always be judged by what they can’t do."

WSO brings differents advantages to different people; however, coaches, athletes and their parents all seem to agree that it is a wonderful and highly beneficial program. In the past those with intellectual disabilities were not given the same athletic opportunities as those without disabilities, but in today’s society with the help from Special Olympics every person is given an opportunity to play in sport they have passion for.

Worthington Special Olympics History

Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded Special Olympics as a program of athletic training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. In 1985, Barbara Harsh, a Worthington resident and special education teacher, obtained aquatic certification in order to start Worthington Special Olympics (WSO). Beginning with eight swimmers and volunteers from the Worthington Swim Club and Worthington High School Swim Team, the program quickly expanded.

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