University Daily Kansan, December 3, 1984
Page 6
Daniel Siemp, left, Ottawa special olympian, experiences all the joys and frustra- kickapoo olympian, watches as her ball rolls down the gutter. The bowling com- tions of bowling as he awaits the outcome of his roll. Elizabeth Madere, above, petition of the Special Olympics State Indoor Games East was Saturday.
Victory shines in the smile
Competitors in the Kansas Indoor Special Olympics East enjoyed the thrill of victory and the joy of competing Friday and Saturday.
Mary Miller, Kansas City, Kan., ap proached the lane at Royal Crest Lanes, Ninth and Iowa streets, with all the concentration of a polished athlete.
"I have three spares!" she said before she took her seventh turn. She said she was hoping to win first place in her division and she did.
Miller said she bowled her highest score ever, a 110 on his first game and an 88 on his second.
BUT ANOTHER BOWLER, Patty Stump, Kansas City, Kan., said she wasn't worried about winning a medal.
"I might win one," she said. "I won one once before."
She said that she didn't remember when she had won but that she just liked to bowl.
Stump and Miller were among the more than 900 athletes, ages eight and up, from teams in 18 countries.
roller skating and volleyball in Lawrence during the weekend. The athletes skated at Fantasyland, 3210 Iowa St., and played volleyball in Robinson Gymnasium.
Joan Dors, program director for Kansas Special Olympics, said the competitors in bowling and roller skating were separated into divisions by age and skill level. This enabled almost everyone who participated to win a medal or a ribbon.
EACH DIVISION HAS a minimum of three competitors and a maximum of six. Dors said. Each bowler submits six scores before the olympics so the staff can form the divisions.
In volleyball, Dors sled, trial rounds were held Friday morning. The officials watched the teams and divided them into skill levels. Each team was matched up so that each played four games.
Besides the athletes, about 300 volunteers helped with the indoor olympics. Each team had a coach, a trainer, and a team leader.
came, numbers, who has helped with special Olympics for 14 years said of the team, "We've had a lot of fun."
socially and physically. And it gives the public a chance to see the mentally retarded achieving things."
CASSY FOX, VOLLEYBALL coach and staff member at Faith Village, an Olaite community for mentally retarded adults, said she measured the progress of the athletes by what she saw them do at the olympics each year.
"It's hard to see them improving from day to day," she said. "Then, when they get here and I see them do something they couldn't do last year at this time, it makes me feel good."
Dors said, "The athlete is the attraction. Their enthusiasm keeps you coming back."
Fran Fisher, a volunteer for three years and a St. Louis junior, said as she pointed to a cheering athlete. "That's why I come back — for the hugs and the smiles."
Last year, she said, she was a referee and the entire team had hugged her when the game was over.
BRAD DEMO, VOLUNTEER and graduate assistant for recreational services, said, "They're enthusiastic — every one of them. They know how to win and at the same time they know how to lose."
Mary Chappell, associate director of recreation services, said, "Probably of all athletes, they have the most regard for伙業manship. They got excited for every body."
"See?" she said, pointing to several athletes "They're cheering for the other team."
nappett said many of the athletes looked forward to the banquet and dance in the Kansas Union Ballroom on Friday night.
"I had a boy come up and say he'd polished his cowboy boots and wanted to know if I'd fance with him tonight," she said.
Nearly all the athletes danced that night.
Nearly all the athletes danced that night
Martina McIntire, special education
teacher at High School, said, "It
does matter how you are dancing with
as long as you're dancing."
Shirley Schmutz and Tom Litchfield, above, members of the team while a teammate throws his arm up in victory. Richie Village People volleyball team from Faith Village in Lenexa, Wallace, right, Sunrise Stars olympian from Paola, is proud rejoice after we win against the Topeka Shawnee County of his silver medal he won in the bowling competition.
Story by Brenda Stockman Photos by Jackie Kelly