President’s Corner: September

Players of all ability levels provide inspiration at the 2024 Special Olympics Maryland State Golf Championship. A showcase for how Special Olympics Maryland provides opportunities to grow through golf.

When I joined Special Olympics Virginia in 1986, one of the most profound lessons I quickly learned was the unique nature of our sport programs to offer athletes of all ability levels the chance to participate and excel measured by an individualized benchmark rather than a societal benchmark. For example, the world record in the 100-meter race for women is 10.49 and 9.58 for men. When our athletes compete, we place them in “divisions” with a maximum of eight individuals or teams of similar gender, age, and ability. This approach gives every athlete or team in that division the chance to win, against those of similar abilities. So the fastest or the best is relative to those of similar abilities. We encourage athletes, coaches, and parents to focus on personal best performances in an effort to motivate continual improvement.

Make no mistake the objective of our athletes and teams is to win. It is true that by using our divisioning approach we provide more opportunities for our athletes to win but most of our athletes still face the reality of frequently not “winning.”   This is where it becomes important to reinforce the value of treating competition as an “exam,” from which athletes and teams can learn and assess their progress. Coaches highlight success and identify areas for improvement as part of post competition analysis. Athletes respond to guidance from coaches and leverage future practices to get better. While our athletes are motivated to win, we encourage athletes, coaches, family members and supporters to know personal best times, scores, and competition skills to provide ways to measure success beyond coming in first.

Additionally, whether an athlete is just starting out or is highly skilled, our programs are designed to provide meaningful and challenging opportunities for everyone. Each sport is structured to accommodate a wide range of abilities, ensuring that every athlete, regardless of their skill level, can register for the sport, experience the joy of training and competition, personal growth, and the sense of belonging that comes from playing a sport and being part of a team.

This inclusive approach reinforces that we encourage and welcome individuals with intellectual disabilities of all ability levels to pursue sports of interest. Additionally, an important benefit of sports like golf, bowling, and alpine skiing is that when our athletes practice, they are typically training in an inclusive environment among other golfers, bowlers, and skiers. In conversations, if there is a distinction to made, I like to frame it as, “these are golfers, bowlers, and skiers who happen to have an intellectual disability” not “these are individuals with intellectual disabilities who happen to be golfers, bowlers, and skiers.” This distinction, while subtle, is critical to placing value on the ability of the individual to play golf, bowl, or ski. This person centric approach versus the disability centric approach focuses on the athlete and their abilities. In the most simplistic terms, we ask, “You want to play golf?” The golfer answers, “Yes.” And we respond, “Let’s see what you got and build your skills from that base.”

Special Olympics achieves the objective of welcoming all ability levels by offering five levels of play.

Level 1 – Individual Skills Competition provides an entry level opportunity, where individuals who have never played golf can learn five fundamental skills (wood shot, iron shot, pitch shot, chip shot, long and short putt) testing every facet of the game in preparation for on-course play. Each skill has scoring parameters. e.g. here is short putt model:

1. The athlete will have five attempts to putt the ball at the hole from a line 2 meters (6.56 feet) from the hole, scoring points according to where the ball comes to rest.
2. The athlete will score one point for making a stroke at, and striking the ball. (A swing and a miss count as one attempt, and the athlete receives a score of zero).
3. A second point is scored if the ball stops on or within the 1.5 meter (4.92 feet) circle.
4. A third point is scored if the ball stops on or within the 0.5 meter (1.64 feet) circle.
5. If the ball goes in the hole, a total of four points will be awarded for that attempt.
6. The Short Putt score shall be the sum total of the five attempts.

The other four levels of play are, Level 2, 9-hole alternate shot, pairing one Special Olympics Maryland golfer with a non-SOMD golfer/Unified teammate, Level 3, 18-hole Unified team alternate shot competition, Level 4, the 9-hole individual stroke play format, and Level 5, 18-hole individual stroke play.

Our 2024 Special Olympics Maryland State Golf Championship featured 150 Special Olympics golfers and 78 Unified teammates competing in each of the five formats (see recap article in this issue). I will leave you with these four videos to underscore the value of including every level of play. These two videos feature two players from Anne Arundel County making their short putt from 6½ feet. Learning these skills are providing a foundation from which to grow and compete in one of the other four levels of play.

These videos show Rusty Buchanan

and Matt Snowden

hitting their tee shots on the first hole of their Level 5, 18-hole individual stroke play round. Matt posted a score of 3 over par 75, while Rusty finished with a round of 112.  Finally, you’ll recall that we division based on ability. Matt’s qualifying average was 73 and Rusty’s was 109. As a result of the 26 stroke differential in their qualifying averages, these players competed as 1 person divisions, so each received gold medal.

All four examples reinforce the point of providing meaningful experiences to athletes of all ability levels, giving them a chance to win, and but more importantly grow through sport.