Adoption: A Family Choice


Athletes Excel Games


This is an article in one of our local newspapers. The Games are for children who have Physical Limitations. Our daughters, Janice and Martha, have participated for several years.

Almost 100 competitors met at a High School last Thursday, March 12, to partake in some fun and friendly - yet intense - competition at the 1998 Games. Throughout the packed gymnasium, cheering, laughing and happy sounds echoed at the Games.

The Games, designed for physically challenged kids from around the county to compete against peers with similar physical challenges, "I had a group of students that couldn't go to the state meet." a teacher said.

So she began the local competition and has continued to help see that it remains an annual event for challenged students from the area to gather and compete among their peers. While the children's hospital school has since disbanded and physically challenged students are now integrated into the public school system, the need for the Games remain. "This is still an opportunity for these kids to be with their physical peers and compete on a more equal basis:" the teacher said. Competitors are placed in groups according to their prescores, their physical challenge, and their age group. If they don't fit into a category with other participants, they compete against their own prescore.

Over the years, the Games have become more than just a place for physically challenged individuals to gather and compete. Some of the participants are being accompanied to the Games by their fellow classmates and teachers. They come to help cheer their athlete on and some even play the role of a coach. "They go to support their classmate," the teacher said. "And it serves as kind of an awareness field trip. In some cases, a classmate has been practicing with and helping them out, coaching them." Sometimes an entire classroom will attend the Games to cheer on a classmate, and she said she's always getting feedback from teachers saying that attending the Games was a positive experience for the classmates. "Its nice to see them involved," she said.

The athletes seem to appreciate the support as well. Janice...had a classmate attend the games. Her classmate and friend, Carol, helped out at the softball throw by hollering to Janice so she could tell what direction to throw the ball. Janice, like other athletes at the Games, doesn't let the fact that she's blind slow her down any. "I think they (the games) are pretty neat," Janice said. Janice likes getting to meet other people at the Games, and her favorite competition is the 25-yard dash. "I ran so fast," she said. "I felt like I was flying' " Janice bettered her previous personal record time in the event by 10 seconds.

Janice's sister, Martha, an eighth- grader in Middle School, bettered her time by 25 seconds during the Games. "Its fun (competing in the Games)." Martha said. "I've been doing it ever since I was a baby." Born with cerebral palsy, Martha said the Games present a real friendly atmosphere to the participants. Believing she was getting too old for the Games, she originally thought this year would be her final appearance in the Games, but she decided that she had so much fun that she's not sure she'll quit just yet. "Its fun to compete with kids that have the same ability as me," Martha said.

The Games come together each year through the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and the help and donations of many. Some of the volunteers for this year's event included students from (a) High School and (a) University. "We continue to have about 100 kids sign up every year (since the first year)," her teacher said. "We need to look at some of the events and make changes, as we often do."

One thing that is certain, the Games will continue. "We plan to return to (the highschool)," the teacher said. "The people there were very supportive and helpful. I thank everybody that worked so hard to make it (this year's Games) happen, and my co-director was tireless in her efforts."

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