By Malcolm Butler
Although the music blared over the portable speakers at the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex Friday morning aiding in the upbeat atmosphere, the sound of laughter pierced the air as more than 150 athletes from around the area participated in the fall Special Olympics on the Louisiana Tech campus.
Lacy Deal, the event’s organizer and an instructor in the Louisiana Tech Kinesiology Department, said the event has evolved over the years.
“This event is something we started a long time ago, but it has changed a lot,” said Deal. “We started the field day about seven years ago, giving these kids an opportunity to get out of school, have some fun, and be acknowledged for how special they are.”
Deal said the main bulk of the volunteers that make the event successful are Louisiana Tech students who come from the kinesiology department. The majority of the event coordinating volunteers coming from Kinesiology 414, a class Deal teaches every fall.
“It’s an adaptive class taught every fall,” said Deal. “My students select events that are fall related. Special Olympics have designated sports that go with the fall season. Those are soccer, bocce ball and flag football. So all of the stations are associated with those.”
Deal said the older participants competed in events specific to those sports while the younger kids did modified activities teaching skills associated with the sports.
The rest of the more than 200 volunteers Friday came from different organizations within the University, (Tech) Athletics as well as individuals from Choudrant High School and Ruston Junior High.
Aleya Hill, a junior member of the Bulldog softball team and an interdisciplinary major who said she wants to work with special education students upon graduation, said she loved working the event on Friday.
“I love how they have so much energy they have,” said Hill. “They give off such a good vibe.”
Senior Salma Bates, a member of the Lady Techster basketball program and a communications major, said she gets as much joy and fulfillment out of volunteering at the event as the kids doing participating.
“I want to be active in the community and give back while being a role model for kids,” said Bates. “It makes me happy seeing the smiles on their faces. For us to be here helping them have fun means everything. It’s gratifying.”
While Special Olympic athletes of a variety of ages spent the morning showcasing their skills, so many parents, families and friends joined the volunteers in cheering them on.
“These kids are excluded from so many things,” said Deal. “When you are a parent of a child who does not get the opportunity to participate in sport, who is always on the sideline cheering for individuals — their classmates, their friends — it’s great for them to have a day or two days a year where it is just for them. Where we cheer for them and raise them up for the special people that they are.”
Deal said all of the participants came from Lincoln Parish schools and D’Arbonne Woods. She hopes that the spring event will include participants from even more schools and said individuals can contact her directly at ldeal@latech.edu or call 318-257-5458.
