LYNN — Last summer, the Lynn Special Needs Camp partnered up with Special Olympics Massachusetts to organize a one-of-a-kind community event for its young athletes. One year later, the Lynn Special Olympics event is still running strong with young athletes excited to test their skills in a number of events.
“I think the kids get really excited for it,” Kayla Walleston, who works at the camp and helps organize the event, said. “Some of them not so much at first but once they get going they have a good time with all the events we set up.
“Some of the kids are practicing different soccer drills,” Walleston said. “We have dribbling and passing. We have some obstacle courses set up, some 30-meter races and some throwing activities as well.”
The Lynn Special Needs Camp works year-round, but the Special Olympics event, which took place Tuesday morning, helps put an exclamation point on the final week of its summer vacation program.
“We have a five-week summer program and an after school program as well,” Walleston said. “This is our last week of the five-week program. Last year was the first year we added the Special Olympics program with help from the Special Olympics Organization to kick start things.
“Terry Keilty (Mass. Special Olympics Vice President of Community Development) from the organization reached out to us to see if we wanted to do something with Special Olympics Massachusetts last year,” Walleston said. “We enjoy it a lot. There aren’t a lot of Lynn athletes involved in the Special Olympics. This helps them open that up a little bit.”
Programs like these are some of the first steps to building more involvement for athletes in the community, Keilty said.
“It’s been great,” Keilty said of the event. “One of our goals recently is to really break into Lynn. We’re starting with two of the high schools in Lynn which will become unified champion schools for the Special Olympics. That means they’ll have unified sports, full school engagement and youth leadership. This is great, it’s worked out great after the second year doing it.
“It’s a good step,” Keilty said. “We want people and athletes to know Special Olympics is a year-round sports and training organization. The Northeast Arc, which is in Danvers, has a lot to offer as well. They draw a lot from Lynn in their recreation and special olympic programs.”
The day began with opening ceremonies attended by parents, family members and athletes. The ceremonies were highlighted by the carrying of the torch by several dozen of the camp’s Special Olympic athletes.
“We had a couple of the kids doing some speeches before we got started,” Walleston said. “We did a quick little parade with the torch and everything and some music playing to get us all in the competitive fun spirit.”
Events included soccer skills drills, a pair of obstacle courses, lawn dart throws and road relay races run by the camp staff.
“We have a great staff here helping out (Tuesday),” Walleston said. “Our staff for the summer is usually made up of high school and early college age kids. They have a great time working with the kids.”
