State Fall Classic

Our last state event of the year, State Fall Classic, will take place October 19th-21st in Carencro, LA.  Athletes will compete in aquatics, horseshoes, and softball.  Horseshoes and softball will take place at Pelican Park (110 Softball Dr., Carencro,LA), while aquatics will take place at the Robicheaux Center (1919 Eraste Landry Road, Lafayette, LA).

Not only will our athletes compete in the aforementioned sports, but they will be able to participate in Healthy Athletes, Olympic Town, and a clinic for flag football or soccer.

To put on this event for over 400 athletes, we will need YOUR help!

Hundreds of volunteers are needed to make this event possible.  So, if you have volunteered with Special Olympics Louisiana before or if it has always been something that you wanted to do, we encourage you to sign up to volunteer and be a part of this great event!

Happy Monday

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” – Colin Powell

London Olympics 2012

From Special Olympics Louisiana to Team USA…Good Luck and don’t forget to “be brave in the attempt.”

Special Olympics and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have had an on-going relationship since 1988.  Mr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently discussed the importance of how Special Olympics uses the spirit of ‘Olympism’ to promote using sport for a better world, from talking about how Special Olympics and the IOC can work together on issues such as health, education and social inclusion. Read more

Focusing on ABILITY

At Special Olympics Louisiana we always focus on our athletes ABILITY, not disability! We try to always focus on what someone can do and not what they can’t.

Many of our staff members loved this picture, we thought we would share!

Taken off Facebook

Sports Awards Banquet recap

On Saturday, July 21, 2012 the 25th Annual “Spirit of Special Olympics Sports Awards Banquet” was held. The event took place at the FOP Wedding and Reception Hall in Baton Rouge, LA and was presented by Courtland’s Catering and Extreme Catering, LLC.

WAFB’s Jay Grymes was the Master of Ceremonies and Retired Major League Baseball Outfielder, David Dellucci served as the Keynote Speaker. The event honored 13 individuals and groups that greatly contributed to the success of Special Olympics Louisiana in 2011. We would like to thank everyone who helped and congratulate all the winners!

Click here to see pictures from the event.

 

Hayes Howell update

Hayes Howell was the first Special Olympics athlete to ever qualify for the National Junior Gold Bowling Tournament. In his final practice before leaving Louisiana to head for Indiana, he bowled a 290! While in Indiana he did very well and was in the top third of males in his division. We are glad to have him home, but so proud of his accomplishments.

Hayes’ bowling skills have already qualified him for over $1,000 in scholarships for Baton Rouge Community College!

While in Indiana, he visited the Indianapolis Speedway and the Special Olympics Indiana office! View the pictures here

The Big Picture

Special Olympics, Inc. recently put out a post title “The Big Picture” which showed the growth that we as a movement have had in the past year. Last Friday, July 20, 2012 also marked the 44th anniversary of Special Olympics. Read the whole article here

The two biggest stats that really stood out were:
– In 1968, we had 1,000 athletes from the U.S. and Canada participate in 2 sports.
– In 2012, we had 4 million athletes in 170 countries participate in 32 sports.
– In fact, we had 53,601 competitions! That is 146 competitions every day!

We are proud of how far we have come, but also know that there is much work to do since there are an estimated 200 million people in the world with intellectual disabilities. Our movement is proof that one person, one idea can make a difference. We will keep moving forward until every person with an intellectual disability is seen as an equal member of society and given the right to play on any playing field!

Special Olympics Louisiana’s 1968 participants. Our first 11 athletes!

Area Management Teams

 

Spontaneous Decisions

You never know what decisions you make on the spur of the moment that will affect your life forever! 

From a recent Special Olympics memo:

When people speak of Camp Shriver – the origin of Special Olympics, they look no farther than Eunice Kennedy Shriver. They talk of one woman’s dream that started in her own backyard. They speak of her vision that through sport, the lives of people with intellectual disabilities would be transformed and public perception would be changed.

Senior year. Spring 1962. An announcement blares over the PA at Holy Cross Academy in Kensington, Maryland: “Any girls willing to volunteer to work at a camp for retarded (sic) children, please come to the main office.” Seventeen year-old twins Ann and Mary Hammerbacher thought, “why not?” and walked down the hall to sign up. They walked right into history. The Hammerbacher twins were among the first volunteers for “Camp Shriver,” Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s experiment in physical activity and recreation for children with intellectual disabilities that she launched in her Rockville, Maryland back yard. Read more

 

Sharing the Court

Last week, we told you about a camp some of our athletes attended at the University of New Orleans, which was hosted by the men’s basketball team.  Athletes were put through drills, took a tour of the Lakefront Arena, and played a game against the UNO team.

Bryan Salmond from WWL-TV was on hand to capture the action at the camp.  He shows how the UNO athletes views of athletes were changed.

Click the picture to see the video from WWL-TV!