Hello, all! I’ve hemmed and hawed over what to write here for my first blog entry, and just couldn’t figure out anything interesting for an introduction. So how about this – let’s just jump in with something interesting that happened recently, and if you don’t know me yet, we’ll get to know each other as we go along. How about that? (Welcome, by the way!)
For those who are newer to my corner of the world, my name’s Summer and one of the things that occupies a lot of my time is Special Olympics. I started participating somewhere around ten years ago in Alaska when a support worker suggested it. At the time, I was feeling pretty isolated by my disability, so even though I was hesitant and wasn’t sure I would fit in, I decided to give it a try. What I found was a supportive community where I could be myself and fully participate in sports in a way I’d never been able to before.
Fast forward, and Amy (my spouse) and I have moved down to Florida in the last year. Selling my mom’s house and moving cross country turned out to be harder on me than I expected, and getting involved in Special Olympics down here has been a big part of helping me cope. I was having a really hard time, but once I was able to start going to practices again it really helped. Over the last several months I’ve been going to track practice, and also helping out with cheerleading. Then, a couple of weeks ago, exciting news: I was lucky enough to be chosen to represent my local area in Athletics (aka track and field) in the 2022 Florida State Summer Games!
I’ve been to state games in Alaska several times for swimming and bowling, and really loved the experience. (Shout out to my Alaska pals!) I’ve never been to the one in Florida though, and I didn’t really know what to expect. So I felt lucky, excited, and nervous.
Florida’s state summer games are held at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World. About 1500 athletes and roughly 375 Unified Partners competed over the weekend in cheerleading, cycling, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. There were also about 800 coaches and other delegates. Adding in other volunteers and family supporters into the mix, there were a lot of people there!
Leading up to the trip, we weren’t sure whether Amy would be able to come cheer me on. The drive down to Orlando, plus the stay, plus food and everything… with Disney prices it all adds up to be pretty expensive! But a happy surprise happened – the coach called, and it turned out Amy was needed as a chaperone. Nice!
We left early on Thursday morning to head for the bus, picking up one of my teammates along the way. Our track team is sort of two in one – one practices in Fort Walton Beach, and the other practices in Crestview, but we’re all Okaloosa County. When all was said and done, there were eight of us on headed to Orlando, along with a couple of teams in other sports from our area.
The bus trip took about 6.5 hours I think, and it felt long. I read an entire book along the way! We stopped at rest stops, and also to pick up lunch at Publix. By the time we saw the Disney World sign, we were very tired of being on the bus! One good thing: the air conditioning worked beautifully. If that hadn’t been the case, I think we would have been truly miserable.
At Disney World, we waited on the bus for about an hour to get our room assignments. Our hotel was All Star Sports, and once we finally got our room keys we were SO glad to get to go take a little break. I’ve stayed at All Star Sports before, and really enjoyed it. It’s one of Disney’s budget hotels, and themed around (surprise!) sports, with huge sculptural sports equipment scattered around outside the buildings. One of the things I appreciate is that the food court sort of area in the main lobby has extended hours, so if you get hungry late you can still grab something to eat. They have really good food, too, though it’s Disney-priced.
Friday was the first day of competition, and for me that meant shot put. Shot put is something I unexpectedly fell in love with while living here in Florida for a short stint in 2019/2020. (A good thing to come out of 2020!) I joined S.O. track just to have something to do, and when shot put was suggested I shrugged – sure, why not? As it turns out, I love it. I like feeling strong, and seeing how far I can push it each time. I also liked learning how similar it is to the stone put when I went to the Highland Games last year. Makes me feel closer to my Scottish ancestors, and makes me feel stronger, too.
There were two other women in my division. I was pretty nervous. I’d had a seizure the night before, and one early in the morning, so I didn’t feel quite at my best. I was the first to throw. When I walked up to the circle and tried to set up, at first I felt completely confused. I set up in the wrong spot, and then couldn’t remember which hand to hold the shot in. Totally mixed up! After a little thinking, though, I got myself straight and managed a warm-up shot. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either.
Watching the other two women throw, I realized I was in for a challenge – a big one. One of them in particular was sending the shot so far that I was pretty sure I couldn’t match it, at least not in my current state. I did my very best, but couldn’t quite get close enough. She was a very strong thrower.
In the end, I walked away with silver at 16 feet 8.5 inches. My original aim had been gold, obviously, but I was content with silver. I had worked hard for it, and the distance was within my average range of late, which I considered to be pretty good for having had two bigger seizures within the last 24 hours.
My teammates had a similarly successful day, with lots of medals coming back to our section of the bleachers. Not everyone competed on Friday, but everyone who did came back with a medal.
That evening was supposed to be Opening Ceremonies. During dinner, I was surprised by staff with the news that I’d been chosen as an Inspirational Athlete for my area, a big honor. I was led away to get prepped to be presented at Opening Ceremonies. Unfortunately, Opening Ceremonies were rained out, we were sent back to the buses with our group, and nothing ever happened. We did get to see them set off the Opening Ceremonies fireworks from the bus, though. They were beautiful.
Saturday was the day for the rest of the events. My second event, the 400m walk, is new to me this year. “Walk” sounds slow, but I really do go my fastest. (And you get disqualified if you run.) It was suggested after Nancy, one of the local staff, noticed that I looked nervous on a test run at the first practice of the season. Amy explained that I’d had seizures twice during/after running, so it seemed wise to switch me to a walk. (So far so good – no seizures from racing in walks!) Again there were two other women in my division, one of them I’d competed against the day before, one of them new to me. The 400m walk is not my best event so I was definitely nervous, but intent on giving it my best go. I managed to stay in the lead until about halfway, when the woman who’d gotten bronze in shotput the day before began to creep up on me. At about the 3/4 mark, she began to pull ahead and I just couldn’t push any harder to catch up. She was so thrilled to win, though, that I couldn’t be anything but excited for her. It was her first Florida state games, too; she’s moved here from Indiana.
In the end, our team really rocked it out. Every single person medaled in every one of their events. (Not everybody had only 3 people in their division like I did. There could be up to 8.) 9 Gold medals, 8 Silver medals, and 3 Bronze medals. And I think everybody had a really good time. I know I did. This was such a fun adventure, and I loved getting to spend time with everybody. It was super hot for this Alaskan girl, and parts of it were difficult, but the whole thing was so much fun. I really hope I get to do it again. I loved it.
Thank you to everyone who made this all possible. This was a pretty big, cool experience and I’m really grateful for it.
