Shannon Hutcherson
Yeardisc Editor
“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” This is the oath of the Special Olympics.
The Bryan County Special Olympics has a history dating back to 1967. This year marks the 46th year has taken place in Bryan County.
In the past, the Special Olympics was held at the Paul Laird Field on the Southeastern campus.
This year, the event was held at the Durant Multi-Sports Complex on Wednesday, March 13 and included over 100 participants, track and field events and over 100 volunteers from around the area – including Southeastern faculty, staff and students.
The Special Olympics consists of track and field events such as relays, softball tosses and races, according to Vicki Hudson, chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Southeastern liaison for coordinating faculty, staff and student participation.
This year, there was an estimated 100 volunteers from Southeastern according to Hudson.
In addition to the volunteers from Southeastern, Hudson said that Oklahoma Special Olympics provides the ribbons, handles information on the state level and runs the state competitions. Southeastern’s job is to support “the event with handling the responsibility of running the events and taking care of the actual track and field meet.”
According to Hudson, several businesses and organizations in the area provided support for the event: Durant Emergency Services, Southeastern Electric Coop, McGraw Propane, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Pizza Inn and Coffey-Murray-Dalton Holmes Funeral Home.
According to Hudson, the “event provides the opportunity for the community to see what Special Olympians can really do, what they can accomplish and hopefully, bring an awareness of the efforts and triumphs of this special population.”
In terms of the event improving over the years, Hudson said that “making sure the event runs smoothly and the participants have a great experience have been and will continue to be the emphasis on our part.”
Hudson said that the State Special Olympics organization “has added events at times and new challenges have been included” and that she knows that some of the new events that have been added include “talent shows now and a bowling team.”
When it comes to the impact the Special Olympics has the participants, Hudson said that participating in this event is positive and that “they have the unique experience of people cheering for them, receiving ribbons for their efforts, personal attention from people they don’t even know.”
Hudson said that the participants “also have the joy of showing what they can do” instead of being observers. They are now participants in something that they are normally excluded from.
Hudson said that the Special Olympics has had a personal impact on her. This is largely due to the fact that “we are working with a population that we are not normally involved with; we learn to appreciate what hard work and effort can accomplish; we learn that winning does not always involve beating another person or receiving the blue ribbon.”
Hudson said that it is exciting to see the students excitement for the event even before it happens and that “you leave feeling like you have been a part of a very unique and special day.”
Local schools that participated in the event included: Achille, Antlers, Atoka, Calera, Durant Intermediate School, Durant Middle School, Durant High School, Durant-Northwest Heights, Kingston, Madill, Marietta and Rock Creek.