Constable: Disabled skaters save Olympic-style competition
Some kids, and probably a few adults, cried. They couldn't believe Special Olympics Illinois, citing dwindling numbers of ice skaters, proclaimed that last year's annual skating competition for children, teens and young adults with developmental disabilities would be the last.
"It happened right before the skating, so it was very devastating," remembers Zane Shropshire, a longtime coach who trains skaters with disabilities at the Crystal Ice House in Crystal Lake. No more medals. No more red carpet. No more banquet. No more dance party. No more skating. No more competing with friends.
But wait.
"We don't give in too fast," says JoAnn Snyder, senior manager at Northwest Special Recreation Association, which organizes activities for people with disabilities. When it became apparent that Special Olympics wasn't bluffing about axing the skating, Snyder, Shropshire, Palatine Township Elementary District 15 special education program assistant Deb Jenssen, U.S. Figure Skating Association judge MaryRose Santee and other coaches and parents figured they'd just do a skating competition on their own.
"We are very excited that we were able to put this together," Snyder says. The Skating Championship Invitational for athletes with disabilities will take place from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, at Glacier Ice Arena, 670 Lakeview Pkwy., Vernon Hills, and is free and open to the public.
"We just knew they wanted to skate and compete," Shropshire says of the athletes. "The coaches all got together and said, 'We're going to keep it going.' We knew there was a place for them."
But to build a competition from scratch, they needed plenty of help.
Glacier Ice Arena, where Jenssen coaches skating, donated the rink for the competition and the Ice Dogs Hockey Club gave up their scheduled time on the ice to accommodate the skaters with disabilities.
"Once we had ice, we knew we could roll," Snyder says.
All the glitz and glamour from last year's event remain. Local legend Wayne Messmer will sing the national anthem. After the competition, the skaters will be guests at a lavish celebration dinner, and then the fun continues with a dance party hosted by a DJ who has Down syndrome, Snyder says. Things aren't just the same as last year, they are better.
"We have 10 new skaters who have not competed before," Snyder says. "We've got 48 skaters. We're not dwindling."
Veteran skaters, such as 18-year-old Abby Stanton of Lake in the Hills, often practice all year on complicated routines performed to music. "When you think about all the stuff they have to overcome to skate, it's amazing," says mom Mindy Stanton. "Thank goodness for the coaches. They know how important it is for the kids."
"I'm sure it will be great," says Marty Hickman, chief operating officer of Special Olympics Illinois. Hickman says his agency offered local figure skaters a chance to compete in the Iowa Special Olympics (as some speed skaters did), but understands the decision to host a local skating competition.
To grow the sport, this year's event added a skills competition. Skaters range in age from about 8 to about 40 and come from around the state.
"Everyone is so passionate about having this opportunity to express themselves in a sport many people can't do," Snyder says, adding that many skaters perform complicated moves with grace, while their parents can't step on the ice without falling.
"It feels really good. I just love being on the ice," skater Kayla Barnard, 27, told her mother, Patti Barnard, after the competition was saved. The Algonquin woman, who has a mild intellectual disability, was named a global messenger with Special Olympics, which gave her the opportunity to make speeches to promote her sport.
"She found out a few months after she became a global messenger that her sport was being eliminated," her mother says, explaining how Kayla responded by saying, "Mom, I'm not an Olympian anymore because my sport is gone."
Kayla is not a Special Olympian (although she's hoping to compete in tennis this year) but Sunday's event gives her what she loves - learning new routines, challenging herself and being with teammates who "all accept each other, no matter what their level," her mom says. "With the Winter Olympic Games going on (in South Korea), they equate that with themselves."
The ultimate goal is to build up involvement and persuade Special Olympics to once again include ice skating under its sports umbrella, Snyder says.
"That would be a great thing to build the program from a grass-roots level," says Hickman, who added that Special Olympics Illinois could reinstate skating events if warranted.
"In the meantime, our guys are extremely excited," Snyder says of the athletes who will be competing and the coaches, parents and friends who will be rooting them on. "I have a feeling this will continue."