By Stella Bold “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”—the iconic oath that over 400 athletes recited and many more volunteers heard last Thursday during the 2017 Special Olympics. | |
The event opened with a light rain and with a few words from Levan Reid, who reports the sports for WBZ news. He introduced the people involved and the many schools who participated all across Cape Cod.
Reid then passed on the mic to Coach Doucette who went on to say a few opening words as well, that is until a little girl named Josie caught his eye. Josie, on top of a taller man’s shoulders, really wanted to go onto the stage too. And so she did. While enjoying her spotlight, she said to everyone, “Thank you everyone for coming!” and “I love you, you’re the best!”
Finally, came the Olympic-tradition torch lighting. Mashpee’s own Liam Burton and a local police officer came running to the stage with the torch in hand. And with that, the Special Olympics officially began at 9:57 am. Seniors Ali Kondracki and Lauren Lavigne, along with several school staff members, helped organize and host the games.
Walking around the track, tennis, and basketball courts one could see the many games and activities that were planned for this special day. There was disc golf, a parachute, soccer with a giant ball, yoga, and much more. Over at the tennis courts the varsity tennis girls were creating many games for the kids, and the smiles on their faces suggested the team was doing a fantastic job.
A little more than halfway through I asked Levan Reid how he thought the Special Olympics was going. Here’s what he had to say: “This is fantastic, I mean the Special Olympics is such a great event, and I think for the kids and the people involved it’s fantastic. But for the volunteers it’s one of those days that they remember forever, and they just keep coming back and keep doing it. I mean the smiles on the faces of the kids are priceless, but the smiles and the gratitude in the eyes of the volunteers and the parents involved is priceless. It’s something that you can see when they do all this work to put it all together and they get a chance to see the outcome, and reach that end goal. It’s just gratifying for everybody.”
After a long day of games and fun the Special Olympics came to a rather abrupt end when it began to rain again. All the kids received their medals and filed onto the many buses.
Reid then passed on the mic to Coach Doucette who went on to say a few opening words as well, that is until a little girl named Josie caught his eye. Josie, on top of a taller man’s shoulders, really wanted to go onto the stage too. And so she did. While enjoying her spotlight, she said to everyone, “Thank you everyone for coming!” and “I love you, you’re the best!”
Finally, came the Olympic-tradition torch lighting. Mashpee’s own Liam Burton and a local police officer came running to the stage with the torch in hand. And with that, the Special Olympics officially began at 9:57 am. Seniors Ali Kondracki and Lauren Lavigne, along with several school staff members, helped organize and host the games.
Walking around the track, tennis, and basketball courts one could see the many games and activities that were planned for this special day. There was disc golf, a parachute, soccer with a giant ball, yoga, and much more. Over at the tennis courts the varsity tennis girls were creating many games for the kids, and the smiles on their faces suggested the team was doing a fantastic job.
A little more than halfway through I asked Levan Reid how he thought the Special Olympics was going. Here’s what he had to say: “This is fantastic, I mean the Special Olympics is such a great event, and I think for the kids and the people involved it’s fantastic. But for the volunteers it’s one of those days that they remember forever, and they just keep coming back and keep doing it. I mean the smiles on the faces of the kids are priceless, but the smiles and the gratitude in the eyes of the volunteers and the parents involved is priceless. It’s something that you can see when they do all this work to put it all together and they get a chance to see the outcome, and reach that end goal. It’s just gratifying for everybody.”
After a long day of games and fun the Special Olympics came to a rather abrupt end when it began to rain again. All the kids received their medals and filed onto the many buses.