Quincy Special Olympics sees strong first year

QUINCY — When a Special Olympics team was announced as coming to Quincy, co-coordinator Yesenia James said there was a positive reaction among residents hearing the news. 

“They were saying, ‘Finally, something’s happening!’” she said. 

James, who runs the group with her husband, Joseph, said interest in bringing the Special Olympics to Quincy stemmed from their eldest son, who has special needs himself.  

“Now that he’s older, resources are limited for him, for everything” James said. “School started the unified sports just about the same time as we started our Special Olympics — everything got approved around the same time.” 

There were also, almost immediately, donations from Lamb Weston and American Legion Post 183 in Quincy to help support the newly founded Special Olympics group. 

“They reached out for donations, and that helped get some of the equipment to get us started,” James said. “Uniforms and backpacks — stuff like that.” 

With many athletes in Quincy Special Olympics also playing on Quincy High School’s unified soccer team, which played five games from April to May, the first Special Olympics event the group competed in was a pair of friendly soccer matches in Othello. Those games were later followed by the first official competition; a regional track and field meet in Cheney, where four athletes went on to qualify for the Spring Games held at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. 

Before traveling for state competition, athletes were celebrated with the typical send-off a high school team usually receives as they head to state competition, complete with involvement from Quincy police and fire departments, sweeping through congratulatory messages at Quincy Middle School, Ancient Lakes Elementary and Pioneer Elementary.  

“The police department, the fire department, they were all very supportive,” James said.  

The four Jacks in attendance found plenty of success at the Spring Games, bringing home seven medals across the seven events competed in. 

In its first year of operation, Quincy’s Special Olympics group had 10 athletes register to compete, ranging from elementary to high school-aged athletes. Recently, a 24-year-old and a 30-year-old athlete registered with the team. 

James said that number could have been higher, but there is one steadfast requirement to join. 

“It is very mandatory and important that parents are there at practices and at events,” James said. “I think that’s what limits the participation but being that these kids all have a need that’s different, it’s very difficult for me to know what triggers them and how to comfort them, because I don’t know all the kids.” 

After track and field competition concluded this spring, this summer the Jackrabbit Special Olympians have been taking to the diamond, practicing softball and playing games against parents and volunteers in the organization. 

“We’re just keeping it local, just for the kids to have fun,” James said.  

Coming up soon will be bowling, which begins Aug. 23 and will feature weekly practices in Moses Lake each Friday until regional competition begins at the end of September. With a year-round sports schedule, James said the group is waiting to see if the Quincy School District offers unified sports again this school year to determine what sport they will offer next. 

Just being in its first year, James said there is plenty of room to grow. 

“We would like to get more (athletes) in different age groups, that way we can have different kids by age group,” James said. “Especially the adults, because if we want to do competitions, they have a different bracket. They can do individual ones like we did in track and field.” 

Those interested in registering for Quincy Special Olympics, whether as an athlete or a volunteer, can find more information at https://bit.ly/4fGnV2D. 

    Quincy Special Olympics launched earlier this year and has competed in track and field and softball, with bowling next on the schedule.