Athletes display talents at Special Olympics
Nancy Marino smiled and cheered as she watched her daughter, Danna, compete in the softball throw Sunday at the annual Special Olympics Illinois Spring Games in Naperville.
"She grew up watching her sisters play softball," Marino, an Oak Lawn resident, said Sunday. "So I really enjoyed seeing this, and I know she loved doing it. She's been really excited."
About 700 athletes from all over the suburbs of Kane, DuPage, Cook, Kendall and Will counties participated in Sunday's games, which were held at North Central College's Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Special Olympics provides opportunities for young people with developmental disabilities to enjoy, and succeed in, athletic competition.
This year's athletes competed in a number of running events, including races of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 meters. Athletes also demonstrated their skills in the long jump, shot put, softball throw and powerlifting events.
The day began with an opening ceremony that included the running of a torch carrying the "Flame of Hope."
Chris Sanzeri, a teacher at Hope D. Wall school in Aurora, coached the 29 Hope Wall students who competed on Sunday. The school teaches students with special needs from school districts 129 and 131.
"For weeks before these games, everyone was so pumped," Sanzeri said. "You saw it in the smiles on the athletes' faces, on all the high-fives in the hallways. This is really important for them. I'm a former athlete myself, and to see my students get the same chance to compete means a lot to me personally."
Craig Bellwether of Downers Grove was there to cheer on his granddaughter, Samantha, who was competing in a running event.
"I think what they do here is just wonderful," he said. "It shows all these kids that they're not that different than the rest of us, after all. You can see a lot of joy here."
Sunday's gold-medal winners qualified to compete in the Special Olympics Illinois State Summer Games, which will be held June 15-17 on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.
For more information on Special Olympics Illinois, go to the group's website, soill.org.