Published Articles:
Trinidad Special Olympics
Published in “The Boca”, Trinidad & Tobago’s Waterfront Newspaper
June, 2000Due to our involvement with the horseback riding class for the handicapped children at Princess Elizabeth School, we were the first ones asked to try to find 15 volunteers for a weekend in mid-April to help with the Special Olympics.
John figured that shouldn’t be much of a problem, we had weeks to come up with that many people who wanted to donate two full days to the event. We put out a couple calls on the morning Net and within a week, had enough cruisers offering to help. Some had even been involved in Special Olympics in their “previous lives”, but the rest of us didn’t know what to expect. The Special Olympics here are run on the same rules as the rest of the world so that athletes here can compete at the next level.
It turned out to be an interesting experience. On April 15, the track and field events, bocci ball and gymnastics were held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. As volunteers, it was our job to be available for whatever was needed, but mostly to be sure the athletes were taken to the proper spot for their event at the time their names were called. During the slow times, our volunteers stood at the sidelines and cheered the runners.
Unfortunately, the day was very rainy in the morning and misty almost all afternoon. However, the athletes were ready to do their best at the events whenever it was their turn. When the medals were given out, they were grinning with accomplishment.
On Sunday, April 16, it was time for the aquatics at the Flying Fish swimming facility. This is a complex featuring a large pool for most of the races and a smaller pool of shallower water for other events. Sunday turned out to be a warm sunny day and our group of 15 cruisers showed up at 7 AM to hang up banners and signs and do whatever was necessary to set up.
Sunday’s events were organized by the very capable Cheryl Samuel of Lady Hochoy Vocational Centre. Before the competition, some of the swimming strokes were demonstrated by previous Special Olympic winners. One of the girls demonstrating is the fastest swimmer in her category in the entire Caribbean.
Again, our main duty was to escort the athletes to the pool when their names were called and cheer them on during the event. Winners were also escorted to get their medals. Some of these events would seem very simple to us, but to these athletes, it was a great accomplishment to compete and win.
Sunday afternoon, after a lunch provided for our volunteers, we all went home tired, but with a feeling that we had accomplished something. We all agreed that we had a good time and were happy to be able to give something back to the community.
Last updated by darrensmith@hotmail.com
