Inner satisfaction for Special Olymics athletes
By Christina Sears

Loud cheering, unconditional support and broad smiles never cease at Special Olympics Hawaii. These extraordinary athletes come together every year to exhibit their admirable camaraderie, tireless exertion and love for the games.

Special Olympics was born in the Maryland home of Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1963. With mentally handicapped sister Rosemary Kathleen Kennedy as the inspiration, Shriver held a sports summer day camp for children and adults with mental and physical handicaps to explore their athletic abilities.  She officially founded it as a non-profit charitable organization in 1968 with the Chicago Park district, the National Association for Retarded Citizens, the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Association on Mental Deficiency.

Like the mainstream Olympics, Special Olympics has winter and summer games held every four years in places like Ireland and Alaska.  Basketball and skating are part of the winter games while the summer games include swimming and power lifting.

Coaches and volunteers have experienced that great fulfillment of seeing the athletes succeed; more importantly, they see them triumph over hurdles most athletes would never encounter.

"People who see a practice or swim meet or game for the first time are amazed at what these athletes can do," states Rae Oshiro, Special Olympics swim coach for the Mililani and Pearl City Division Team, The Terminators.  "The beauty of Special Olympics is that everyone, athletes, coaches and volunteers are special.  The athletes boost your self-esteem and make you feel welcome."

The focus of Special Olympics is not necessarily for the athlete to place first, but to succeed in their goals and support othere along the journey; these goals could be as simple as finishing a race or swimming two laps.  Upon joining, athletes are taught the Special Olympics Athlete Oath: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."  Rather than a win-at-all costs attitude, their joy in participating is most important.

While Special Olympics has many coaches and volunteers, due to the increasing number of athletes, new ones are always welcome.  Oshiro says that if an individual would like to help but feels uncomfortable around disabled individuals to "don't do anything at first, just watch. See how others interact with them."

A potential volunteer may feel they cannot help because of lack of knowledge in sports or be unsure of how to lead these athletes. Sports seminars are held for interested coaches and volunteers to educate them about the sport, the rules and how to coach the athletes.

"A good leader knows how to lead all types of people, not just their peers," explains Oshiro, "By dealing with Special Olympics; you also learn to look at things from different angles. Special Olympics are a place where the athletes fit in and have the opportunity to excel."

High school students who wish to expose themselves to this organization may experience a perspective of the world that they've never seen before. After volunteering for the last five years, Junior Lynnette Fukuda has found she is grateful for what she has and that she can help. "I realize how they don't deserve the hardships in life they get. Basically it allows you to appreciate the fortunate life you're given," she says.

Oshiro feels that students participating would be a great way for the community to rally behind these athletes. Instead of, or along with, a campus service club, teenagers looking for another kind of volunteering would greatly benefit from this. "I have seen athletes improve athletically, socially and emotionally," says Oshiro, "I don't know of any other organization that can say that."

With the spring sports season in full swing, many events will be coming up and the athletes could always use the support. The Terminators have two major meets coming up in the next months: May 7 at Pearl City District Park and Pool and the State Games on Memorial Day weekend at UH-Manoa. For more information visit www.specialolympicshawaii.org .

Article was printed in the Mililani High School Trojan Times.