As Matt Nelson and Leonard Woodson walked into the opening ceremonies for the Special Olympics USA Games earlier this month, Nelson estimated they received high fives “for about 45 minutes” from the thousands of supporters lining the route.
“I had to switch hands,” Nelson marveled. “That was phenomenal.”
Nelson and Woodson both work for the city of Evanston. Woodson works as special recreation program coordinator and Nelson as assistant supervisor for special recreation.
But from July 1 to July 6, both men served as coaches for Team Illinois in the Special Olympics’ national competition in Seattle.
Team Illinois included 45 athletes and 16 staff and coaches, including Woodson and Nelson, the two men said. The team brought home 27 medals.
It was Woodson’s second time at the games, after coaching for Team Illinois in 2014, he said. But it was Nelson’s first time coaching on a national stage.
“I got really emotional at times, like the first day when we walked in” to the opening ceremonies at Husky Stadium, Nelson said.
For Woodson, a highlight was getting to know athletes in different events than he had coached in the past.
For example, bocce features a Unified Sports doubles division, where one player with intellectual disabilities is partnered with a player without intellectual disabilities.
Unified Sports is “a chance for Special Olympics athletes to understand, ‘hey, I’m accepted by the general public,’” Woodson said.
Mike Daugerdas, 27, is a member Evanston’s Special Recreation basketball league where he plays center and forward. He qualified in October to play basketball for Team Illinois at the Special Olympics.
Daugerdas, who has epilepsy and a learning disability, lives in Wilmette.
“It was a very positive experience. It really was,” said Daugerdas. “It was fun playing a different team each time around. All of them were big games.”
Daugerdas said his favorite part of the event was the opening ceremonies.
“Just walking in, it’s like you’re at the Olympics,” he said.”It was definitely a fun experience.”
While the games themselves were impressive to Nelson, he said some of the strides that athletes made leading up to the competition were awe-inspiring.
For example, one athlete was told in November that he’d made the team. By the time they left for Seattle, he’d lost 40 pounds getting in shape for competition, Nelson said.
Also, at a Special Olympics-sponsored health fair, three athletes “got free prescription glasses who definitely needed them,” Nelson said.
One athlete was diagnosed with a cavity, and three athletes scored new, $80 running shoes that “they actually competed in,” Nelson said.
The Special Olympics USA Games happen every four years and feature teams from around the United States, according to its website.
More than 4,000 athletes attended this year’s competition, participating in 15 sports, including swimming, track and field, basketball, bocce and soccer, officials said.
As part of their visit to the West Coast city, the Illinois team attended a Seattle Mariners baseball game, visited Pike’s Place to watch the fish throwing and stopped by the original Starbucks coffee shop, Woodson said.
But sometimes the smaller moments were equally meaningful, the men said.
“The whole experience was really, really great.”
