As they proceeded to bowl some of their greatest games, a group of Special Olympics Florida Sumter County bowlers encouraged each other on.
Wayne Schmidt’s team has been practicing weekly to improve their results.
Every Saturday, members of the club gather at Spanish Springs Lanes in Lady Lake to practice for a chance to compete in the Special Olympics USA Games, which will be hosted in Orlando in June 2022.
“We are hoping at least one or two, if not more of them, will be able to compete,” said Schmidt, of the Village of St. Charles. “They have been doing really great, and they compete against each other, which makes it very competitive.”
Schmidt has been interacting with athletes for almost 15 years, the last 11 of which have been spent at The Villages.
“They are great athletes, and they always push each other to do better,” he said. “This past weekend, they had some of the largest game scores they have had the entire time I have been working with them.”
Schmidt has been training with the athletes to improve their game, stance and scores in the hopes of advancing to the Special Olympics Games, which they all want to attend.
One of the athletes, Anita Hart, has been honing her bowling skills.
“I had a great game on Saturday.” she said. “I was able to get some strikes, and I had to celebrate because it’s amazing to feel that accomplishment.”
Hart wasn’t the only athlete who was rejoicing over their accomplishments.
“They did absolutely wonderful,” Schmidt said. “It’s always wonderful to see them reach their goals and watch them celebrate with each other.”
Another Special Olympics competitor, Scott Heard, was also enjoying a strike.
“Getting a strike is a challenge,” he said. “But it’s our goal when we compete — to raise our scores and see just how many strikes we can get. It’s a lot of fun to watch our friends get their goals, too.”
Schmidt stated that his goal for the athletes is to assist them in improving their scores so that they can compete in the Special Olympics USA Games next year.
“They all have a goal of competing nationally,” he said. “We had maybe eight go to the Special Olympic Games in 2018, and it was amazing to see them light up when they found out they were going to the games. I would like to increase that number, but with the pandemic, it would be nice to see at least a couple go.”
“Shine as One” is the theme for the games.
According to Joe Dzaluk, president and CEO of the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, “the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games is bringing people together.”
“This is a history-making opportunity for the nation to shine as one for Special Olympics,” he said. “We will have athletes coming to Orlando from all around the county and the Caribbean all sharing in the magical moment of coming together for the games.”
Visit specialolympicsflorida.org for more information about Special Olympics Florida.