President’s Corner: Spring Recap

Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver Would Be Proud

As I reflect on our spring season I can’t help but think of our founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She would be incredibly proud of the scope of the program here in Maryland. This includes our Interscholastic Unified Sports spring season in Track and Field and Bocce with a full slate of meets and matches, leading to district and state championships. At the same time our community program spring season was filled with extensive opportunities for thousands of Special Olympics Maryland athletes and Unified teammates who trained in bocce, cheer, softball, swimming and track and field and competed at full slate of qualifying competitions focused on advancing to our Summer Games at Towson University.  Mrs. Shriver would be proud of the exceptional volunteer coaches who trained these athletes and Unified teammates to compete at personal best levels.  

The last three months have been a celebration of everything Mrs. Shriver stood for: the opportunity to train and compete, to focus on and demonstrate ability, to exhibit growth and to bring individuals with and without intellectual disabilities together through sport. This season fully represents the transformative power of sport.

On Thursday, May 1, I had the privilege of experiencing that power firsthand. I started the day at the Baltimore City Spring Games, thanked the incredible volunteers at the Prince George’s County Spring Games, and that afternoon I got to see the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Interscholastic Unified Bocce District Championship. It was awesome to see 10 bocce courts buzzing with the inherent excitement of “win and advance” competition. Witnessing teams compete for a chance to advance to the state tournament was fun, exciting and inspiring.

On Sunday, May 4^th, fittingly (given all the action this spring), Mrs. Shriver was posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame. Her son, Mark Shriver, accepted the award and invited Special Olympics athletes from Montgomery County who were present to join him on stage—just as his mother would have done. That moment, surrounded by our athletes and families, underscored the deep and lasting legacy she began in 1962 when she welcomed children with intellectual disabilities to Camp Shriver at her Rockville home.

Her legacy lives on in every race run, every bocce ball rolled, every cheer raised, and every high-five shared on the field. And it has been clearly visible this spring in a packed and inspiring competition schedule across the state. Here is a sample of some of the competitions and events that have occurred since late April:

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Interscholastic Unified Sports & School-Based Events

• April 28–May 1: Unified Track & Field and Bocce District Championships (Frederick, Allegany, Garrett, Upper Shore)
• April 29–May 1: Baltimore City Spring Games
• May 1: Prince George’s County Spring Games
• May 1: Anne Arundel County Interscholastic Unified Bocce District Championship
• May 2: Anne Arundel County Unified Physical Education (UPE) Event
• May 2: Motor Activities Training Program Challenge Day (Cedar Lane School, Howard County)
• May 2: Kennedy Krieger Institute Young Athletes Screening Day at Southeast Early Head Start (supporting families facing housing instability, trauma, language barriers, and more)
• May 12: IUS District 4 (Baltimore County) Outdoor Bocce District Tournament (PDC Gymnasium)
• May 13–14: IUS Track & Field State Championship (PG Sports & Learning Complex, Landover)
• May 20: IUS Outdoor Bocce State Championship (Washington College, Chestertown)

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Community Program Competitions

• April 13–27: Anne Arundel County Swimming & Spring Games at USNA, HO Inspiration Walk, LS Miles for Smiles, LS Agency Strength and Conditioning
• May 3–4:
  • Charles County Spring Games
  • Carroll & Harford County Swim Qualifiers
  • Montgomery County Young Athletes, Pickleball, and (rained out) Softball Qualifier
  • Baltimore County Swim Qualifier
• May 12–20:
  • May 13: Charles County Bocce Qualifier (Turkey Hill Park, La Plata)
  • May 17:
    • CR In-House Swim Qualifier (YMCA Westminster)
    • Kent County Swim Qualifier (YMCA Kent County)
    • Cecil County Bocce Qualifier (Elkton High School)
    • Washington County Swim Qualifier (YMCA Hagerstown)
    • Prince George’s County Swim Qualifier (Fairland Aquatics Center, Laurel)
    • Harford County Bocce Qualifier (Harford Co. Equestrian Center)
    • Howard County Bocce Qualifier (Cedar Lane Park West, Columbia)
  • May 18:
    • Required Community Softball Qualifier (Kiwanis Wallas Park, Ellicott City)
    • Montgomery County Spring Games (Landon School, Bethesda)

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Each of these Community Program events were qualifying competitions for the 54th Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games, which were held at Towson University June 20–22, 2025. These spring qualifiers in bocce, swimming, softball, track and field, and cheer provide scores/results that are used to ensure that we have the best, most equitable and fair competition at Summer Games.

None of this would be possible without the unwavering commitment of our coaches, teachers, volunteers, area leaders, school partners, families,  and supporters. You are the ones who make inclusion real. You open doors. You raise expectations. You amplify joy.

From our youngest athletes in the Young Athletes Program to Unified teammates stepping on the field beside their peer teammates, to parents and community members who cheer from the sidelines—you are the living legacy of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Thank you for continuing to advance her vision and ours. Let’s continue to honor the past by building an even more unified future.

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Jim Schmutz
President & CEO
Special Olympics Maryland

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