My son was a special athlete. He loved sports and was great at his performances. Special Olympics did so much to improve his ego – travelled, met more friends – I was so proud of my Special Olympian. He has now passed away Oct/15. I miss him greatly. I look at his medals of Baseball, Track and Field, Swimming, etc. He was an all around athlete and loved it.
– Sally Forbes
Thought I would share something that happened in our Milton Special Olympics community – one of our coaches was driving a number of athletes to a floor hockey game when David commented how excited he was, not only to be playing a game but that he was going to see everyone on the team twice in 1 week. On the way home he said that it was lots of fun and that he has friends in hockey that are better friends to him than his friends from before. And to top it off, he loves coming because when he walks in he feels loved and that is the best feeling ever. An athlete who feels lost and lonely in so many ways is now feeling what it is like to belong to our family, our Special Olympics family. Thank you athletes and coaches, this is why we do what we do.
– Pat Hall – Milton, Ontario
To our great friends at Special Olympics Ontario, Over the last 3 years the students of Maplewood High School of the TDSB have had the great opportunity to participate in your programming. Our school is composed entirely of students with a range of intellectual disabilities. While the TDSB does run a good compliment of athletic competitions for our students the addition and partnership with Special Olympics has been invaluable. Never before did we have a level of competition that went beyond the Board level. Now, our students get the opportunity to qualify for Provincial wide competitions. Those who do qualify get the exceptional experience of attending the Provincial Championships – a full two day event of athletics and a trip away!!! We can not thank you enough for providing this opportunity for our students. Many of them are not able to access community athletics for a variety of reason. Travel opportunities are also quite limited. Their time at the Provincials is super exciting. Meeting so many peers from across the province and making new friends is a wonderful experience. As coaches, your events also bring us a great deal of personal satisfaction. You look after us all so well and we love seeing our athletes participate and grow. Thank you for all that you do for our community, The Maplewood Crew!
– Diane Reed, Maplewood HS, TDSB