It’s been a great summer so far for Special Olympics and special recreation athletes from the area.
On June 26, the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association held a Sneaker Ball at Gaelic Park to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
During that same week, Special Olympic athletes from LWSRA as well as others from across the Southland represented Illinois in the USA Games in Minnesota – an event that featured more than 3,000 athletes.
LWSRA was born July 1, 1976, when the Frankfort, Frankfort Square, Mokena and New Lenox park districts got together to create a program for people with special needs. Over the years, athletes from Crete, Manhattan, Peotone and Wilmington have joined in.
This year’s Sneaker Ball drew nearly 300 people, according to LWSRA Executive Director Keith Wallace.
“We brought family, friends and past co-workers together,” Wallace said. “The whole thing was centered around family and fun and just having a good time.”
And, of course, revelling in the memories.
Tami Pareti, the association’s manager of programs, has been with LWSRA for 25 of those 50 years and at the Sneaker Ball, she was happy to see people of various ages who have participated over the years.
“It’s fun to watch the younger kids become the older kids and it’s neat to see the progression,” she said.
How has the organization lasted so long?
“It’s twofold,” Wallace said. “It’s the participant families that we continue to bring in, and our staff that we continue to bring in. Everybody has their own unique personality. And it just works. It really works.”
Over its five decades, the organization has hosted national wheelchair tournaments in basketball and softball, and even hosted a World Series wheelchair softball tournament featuring teams and players from Japan, the Netherlands and Ghana.
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“We all work hard and we work hard together. We work with a mission to create a community without limits for individuals with disabilities,” Wallace said. “Everyone is sold on keeping that mission of keeping LWSRA moving forward.”
Pareti is proud of her 25 years with LWSRA.
“The reason I came to Lincolnway was because of the family orientation,” she said. “We started as a family-oriented agency, and we’ve continued that even though we’ve grown tremendously. That feeling is why people keep coming back to us.”
Meanwhile, up north four LWSRA athletes or unified partners joined athletes from around the state to form the Team Illinois Unified Volleyball Aces team, which combines students with and without disabilities, took the silver medal in the Special Olympics USA Games held all over the Twin Cities area in Minnesota.
LWSRA members were Frankfort’s Jimmy Moustis, Mokena’s Matthew Reczek, Tinley Park’s Dillon Buschmann and Joliet’s Arik Sorenson. Sorenson, a unified partner, received the Spirit of Unified Sports Award for demonstrating sportsmanship, inclusion and the spirit of teamwork in the Special Olympic games.
Others from the area who played for the Aces were Oak Lawn’s Mia DiGiacomo, Palos Hills’ Becca Gehle and Marium Wahid and Orland Park’s Todd Mallo.
The Southland athletes joined forces with those from Bloomington, Sycamore and Chicago to finish runner up to Ohio.
“I am just so proud of them because they played so well and tried so hard,” said Aces coach Julie Smith of downstate Hudson. “For our first time doing this, and the fact that they came from all over the state and not from just one team is pretty amazing.”
Oak Lawn swimmer Christine Leverenz brought home two gold medals – one in the 50-yard backstroke and another in the 50-yard breaststroke. She also took a silver in the 200 medley relay competition.
“I just can’t stop looking at this,” Leverenz said about her first gold medal in a Special Olympics Illinois news release. “I’m going to treasure it forever.”
Oak Forest bowler Lizzi Jorgensen won a silver medal in the female singles category and a fifth-place finish in the female team division.
Tinley Park’s Grayden Alexander and Osaze Ikponmwosa were on the silver medal-winning Unified Basketball Interscholastic Division team.
Elmhurst’s Katie O’Neill won three gold medals and had a pair of fourth-place finishes in Level 4 Gymnastics. She has area ties as her uncle, Mike O’Neill, was a longtime football coach at St. Laurence and Andrew and his son, Matt, coached baseball at Stagg. Her aunt is former Mother McAuley volleyball coach Anne Malone.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.