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Keepin' Up with the Greater Fort Worth Area
Going the Distance Greater Fort Worth area athletes were joined by their fellow competitors from the Greater Dallas area for the 2011 Kayaking Competition held at Marine Creek Lake in north Fort Worth. It was a beautiful morning and the lake was calm, which led our athletes to turn in some very fast times in the 250m and 500m races. Come out and join us at the 2012 competition and you’ll be very impressed that our athletes not only can paddle that distance, but do so quickly. Thank you to our wonderful friends at the Metroplex Ski Club for providing space at the lake and boats for our timers and chase teams. Pigskins in the Air Football has come to Special Olympics Texas; flag football that is! More than a dozen Greater Fort Worth area supporters attended coaches training for this new sport in June. About eight teams played in our inaugural Area Competition on October 1 at the UT Arlington Intramural Fields. Both traditional and Unified teams competed, along with a contingent of Individual Skills athletes. Thanks to everyone who came out to support these teams and cheer them on to victory! An Entertaining Evening
Indoor Golf, Anyone? Playing golf indoors may have been the only safe way to hold the Greater Fort Worth area’s golf competition. The drought and unbearably dangerous heat wave caused competition director, Jim Houser, to cancel the event for the safety of our athletes and volunteers. Houser explained, “With heat indexes approaching 99 degrees at 9:00 in the morning and 112+ by noon, we would simply be taking too big a risk with our participants. We’re all about fun here at Special Olympics Texas but safety comes first!” All athletes that had been entered to compete were given an automatic entry into the competition at Fall Classic they brought a lot of gold, silver and bronze back to Fort Worth in October. Sail Away!
Ramonica Jones |
Thank you to our Official Partners and year-round Co-Sponsors: |
Efforts to continue expanding the relationship with our
friends at UT Arlington and its athletic department took an interesting, but
musical, turn in August. We were invited
to attend the department’s Athlete Reception for new and returning athletes and
given the opportunity to speak to the group about SOTX and volunteering. Global Messengers Lyndon LaPlante and Colby
Bannister made strong impressions on these high caliber athletes with their remarks
about SOTX training and competitions.
Both men also spoke in support of the R-word campaign presentation by
Spencer MacKenzie from Argyle, Texas. In addition, three Greater Fort Worth area
athletes were invited to participate in that night’s talent show and they all
rocked the house! Kaitlin Cykana sang
‘Heartache Tonight’, followed by solid keyboard performances by Joel Kaspereit
and Tony Trojcak. Each one had the
collegiate athletes up and clapping in rhythm and when the evening ended, there
were plenty of high fives being shared among the new friends! 
Approximately 30 athletes and their families, plus a few key
volunteers, were treated to a morning of sailing by the Fort Worth Boat Club in
June. The leisurely pace of the
sailboats soon evolved into a race to the finish line by a 14-boat regatta. The winds were favorable, the skies were soft
and the smiles abundant! After the boats
docked and the crews had stowed the lines, a picnic under the tall shade trees
was served. The morning was topped off
with each athlete receiving a special regatta trophy from our friends at the
Boat Club. A big thank you goes out to
Heidi and Phillip Schutts and their associates at the FWBC for hosting our SOTX
crew!
