Summer Special Olympics games returns to Towson
Event planners seek volunteers
Jazzmen Tynes
News | 5/13/07
More than 11,000 athletes from across the state are expected to compete in the 2007 Summer Games of the Special Olympics Maryland from June 8-10 on Towson's campus.
The Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition in 30 Olympic-type summer and winter sports.
Currently, there are more than 200 Special Olympics programs across the country, including several in Maryland.
Sporting events for this summer's Special Olympics Maryland games include aquatics, athletics, bocce, softball (team and individual skills) and equestrian, according to the Special Olympics Web site.
Men's basketball head coach Pat Kennedy said he wants the TU community to show their support for the event by coming out for the game's opening ceremony and the weekend's sporting events.
Kennedy and his wife Jeannie have been involved in the Special Olympics for 25 years. He said that the event is a great way for the community to show support for a "great cause."
TU hosted the Special Olympics for several years, and then the games were moved to the University of Maryland, College Park. When the event returned to Towson two years ago, not many people knew about the event, Kennedy said.
"[The games] didn't get a lot of publicity when they came back to Towson. This year, my wife has a special committee and they're out putting posters all over Towson trying to get people to get out for the opening ceremony," he said.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday, June 8, at 7:30-9 p.m., in the Towson Center.
"The opening ceremony for the Special Olympics is just like the opening ceremony for the Olympics," Kennedy said. "There's a torch lighting ceremony every year. All of the athletes will march in and an announcer will announce each of their names, and the county they represent. Governor [Martin] O'Malley will be there as well. We really want people to come out because the more people at the opening ceremony, the more festive it will be."
The Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition in 30 Olympic-type summer and winter sports.
Currently, there are more than 200 Special Olympics programs across the country, including several in Maryland.
Sporting events for this summer's Special Olympics Maryland games include aquatics, athletics, bocce, softball (team and individual skills) and equestrian, according to the Special Olympics Web site.
Men's basketball head coach Pat Kennedy said he wants the TU community to show their support for the event by coming out for the game's opening ceremony and the weekend's sporting events.
Kennedy and his wife Jeannie have been involved in the Special Olympics for 25 years. He said that the event is a great way for the community to show support for a "great cause."
TU hosted the Special Olympics for several years, and then the games were moved to the University of Maryland, College Park. When the event returned to Towson two years ago, not many people knew about the event, Kennedy said.
"[The games] didn't get a lot of publicity when they came back to Towson. This year, my wife has a special committee and they're out putting posters all over Towson trying to get people to get out for the opening ceremony," he said.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday, June 8, at 7:30-9 p.m., in the Towson Center.
"The opening ceremony for the Special Olympics is just like the opening ceremony for the Olympics," Kennedy said. "There's a torch lighting ceremony every year. All of the athletes will march in and an announcer will announce each of their names, and the county they represent. Governor [Martin] O'Malley will be there as well. We really want people to come out because the more people at the opening ceremony, the more festive it will be."
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SpecialOlympics
posted 6/07/08 @ 3:26 PM EST
Special Olympics Unofficial Website
Please visit our brand new special olympics unofficial website!
http://www.special-olympics.us/
Thanks!
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