Although most students have long since departed for summer break, the familiar sound of high-tops against finished wood filled the Old North High School gymnasium Wednesday night.
Configured in a large circle inside the facility, a volleyball team was in the last stage of training for the competition of their lives. As one player after another lunged at the ball, a tall, pensive figure held the center of the court, barking words of encouragement and controlling the pace of the drill.
The team is named the Flyers, their leader is Vernon Clark and they are all Special Olympians -athletes with mental disabilities – preparing for the Summer Games of Ohio.
Scheduled for Friday through Sunday at several large venues across the OSU campus, the Summer Games are the largest of eight state competitions held annually by the Special Olympics. Two-thousand and eight-hundred athletes have been chosen to compete in the 12 separate events after qualifying at local and regional competitions earlier this year.
As with the quadrennial Summer Olympics, sports such as track and field, swimming and gymnastics will be featured. Roller skating and bocce also are part of the program to accommodate lower-functioning participants.
The volleyball competition, in which the Flyers will compete, takes place on Friday, beginning at 3 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 9 p.m.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” said Clark, a Reynoldsberg resident who first learned of the Special Olympics through a case worker at the Franklin County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities two years ago.
Back then, Clark was consumed with loneliness. But the camaraderie present in team sports has restored his enthusiasm as dramatically as physical activity has benefited his muscle reflexes, which were permanently weakened when an automobile accident left him with a neurological impairment at age 15.
He recalls that period of his life with a mixture of fondness and regret.
“I was getting ready to join the football team in high school when the accident happened,” said Clark, whose V-shaped, 6-foot-2-inch frame hints at the magnificent halfback or free safety he might have been. “I even dreamed of playing for Ohio State some day.”
Instead, he spent the rest of his teen-age years relearning how to walk, read and speak. In addition to physical rehabilitation, Clark had to re-enter school at the kindergarten level. It took him years to work his way back to Groveport High School, which proved an unpleasant experience the second time around.
“I was made fun of because my movements were different and because I was older, and that feeling stayed with me a long time,” he said. “I became very nervous around people. Because I can’t do a lot of the things other people can do, I felt left out of everything.”
Clark, now 29, has largely purged his mind of such thoughts, and he credits Special Olympics with his improved disposition.
“I had never been involved in a team activity before,” he said. “I wanted to play football, but I couldn’t. So Special Olympics has given me this instead. For the first time, I feel like I’m part of the community.”
Marty Allen, program director for Special Olympics Ohio, said bringing persons with mental disabilities together with the community is exactly what this competition is about.
“Through Special Olympics, there’s been a greater acceptance and a realization that these athletes are just like everyone else,” Allen said.
The games have opened up many doors for the mentally disabled, even providing job opportunities that were previously off-limits, he said.
When McDonald’s sponsored the Summer Games, he recalls, local store managers who volunteered to help with the competition discovered that many mentally disabled individuals are not only capable of diverse tasks, but are often more energetic than their “normal” counterparts.
As a result, area McDonald’s restaurants began to hire workers from among the handicapped population.
“They’re happier at their jobs than other workers, and they take more pride in their contributions,” said Allen, to whom such enthusiasm comes as no surprise. Having been associated with Special Olympics for 25 years, he comes in contact with it every time he watches an event.
“The thing I’ve learned to appreciate most is the effort the athletes put into competing,” he said. “So often, I don’t see the professional athletes putting forth their best. Disabled athletes, on the other hand, have to work enormously hard simply because of some of the physical challenges they face.”
For Clark, those challenges include more than slowed reflexes. He also has problems with leg weakness and difficulty in coordinating the movement of his arms, the latter of which can be problematic when attempting a two-handed volley. Still, two years of constant practice – not to mention a YMCA membership – have paid enormous dividends on the court.
“He’s our most improved player,” said Chris Guzzo, the Flyers’ head coach and an adapted physical education teacher of disabled students for Columbus City Schools. “He’s a really positive person. He wants the team to be successful, and he’s worked very hard to come back from the accident.”
One of Clark’s most memorable athletic moments came at last year’s Summer Games. In the final match of the volleyball competition, he served the winning point to secure the gold medal for his team, despite having to contend with a bit of gamesmanship on the part of the opposing squad.
“They tried to get me to choke by calling time-out at the last minute,” Clark said. “I have to admit it made me secretly very nervous.”
Despite his successes, Clark often ruminates over what might have been had the accident never occurred.
“It’s something I still think about a lot,” he said. “I’ll always hear the crowd at those Ohio State games and imagine that those cheers might have been for me, but this program helps me feel like I’m a part of something important, too. It’s a commitment I’ve made and I’m going to keep it.”
Opening Ceremonies for the State Summer Games will be held on Friday, at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
