Beyond the sports: Annual Special Olympics brings communities together

A soccer ball the same height of the teen athletes rolled across the Dartmouth Youth Soccer Association’s field as students rallied with volleyballs four times larger than their heads nearby.

Elsewhere, kids completed obstacle courses, battled in games of tug-of-war, raced each other, threw javelins and practiced their karate.

In all, around 600 students took to the Dartmouth Youth Soccer Association’s field on Friday, May 15 to compete in Dartmouth’s 23rd Annual Special Olympics, bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities.

“It’s gotten bigger with every year,” said John Breault, a special education teacher at Dartmouth High School and the unified track coach. “It’s just a chance for our population to be in the limelight themselves and kind of celebrate them.”

What first started as a Dartmouth-only competition over 20 years ago has transformed into a day of competition for students from 10 different school communities, including Westport, the Southeastern Massachusetts Education Collaborative and Fairhaven.

“It’s a really cool event that takes a lot of work and time to put together, but it’s all worth it, seeing the kids have fun and have those smiles on their faces,” Breault said.

He said that the day is “essentially three events running separately, but all at the same time,” with students separated into three age groups and rotating between five or six stations.

These stations included not only traditional track and field events but also organizations like Gnome Surf Therapy, Bay State Gymnastics Academy, and World-Class Kenpo Karate Academy

“As we’ve grown over the years, we’ve tried to bring in outside vendors so that the families know what’s out there in their community,” Breault said.

This growth has extended to the number of people who volunteer to make Special Olympics possible, including around 85 students from across the Dartmouth Public Schools district.

High school student Etta Hall was among the student volunteers, having joined the unified track team this spring.

Hall called the Special Olympics “great” because it “builds friendships, everything like that, and it’s just a fun day together.”

High school student Allison O’Neil, who was a learning partner during the first half of the school year, chose to volunteer because she “loved just helping out other people and … thought this would be a great experience.”

Hall described the event’s atmosphere as “high energy, positive vibes, friendly competition and everything like that.”

O’Neil added that it’s “very positive.”

“Everyone’s just working together and encouraging everyone, and I just think it’s a great atmosphere, and it’s a wonderful place,” she said.

Breault said that without outside vendors and people helping to organize the event, it wouldn’t be possible to hold it year after year.

He said they “list goes on,” but includes companies like Domino’s and Jersey Mike’s.

Michael Cappello, who helps organize all of the unified specialistic events and came up with the idea to host the Special Olympics, said the event is “kind of our Super Bowl.”

He noted that it’s his favorite day of the year.

“It’s kind of a very impactful day across the board,” he said. “I think not just for our special needs population, but for all the students that are involved.”