Organization Overview
Since 2006, the Murray Special Olympics delegation has afforded individuals with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to play sports and be involved with numerous educational experiences while gaining a sense of community. Special Olympics unlocks the joy of sports to inspire people to accept, include and value people with disabilities while uniting people in a shared belief of a more just and welcoming community.
In 1970, Special Olympics Kentucky served 400 athletes through a handful of athletic events designed to focus attention to the attributes of people with intellectual disabilities. In 2019, there are more than 8,300 children and adults impacted through Special Olympics in Kentucky. Our local delegation serves approximately 155 active athletes to date. We have countless volunteers, 32 coaches and more than 60 unified partners who champion beside our athletes, building them up and supporting them every step of the way. Within our delegation, we have an athlete who represented us at the 2018 USA Games bringing home 2 gold medals in Track and Field. We are also proud to have the 2013 & 2018 Special Olympics Coach of the year in our ranks. Through the sports of cheer, basketball, bowling, soccer, bocce, track and field, swim, flag football, softball, and golf, our delegation is able to enhance the lives of individuals by teaching team work, building confidence, improving health and creating life-long friendships. In 2014 a unified youth pair traveled to New Jersey for a youth summit and in 2016 we had another pair travel the globe to Austria for the international youth summit.
Partnering with SOKY, Join our Family
In the words of our athletes, “we’re not just a team, we’re family.” Murray Special Olympics provides sports opportunities for our athletes and so much more. We provide a family. For some athletes, we are an extension of the family that they already have, but for many of our athletes we are the closest thing to a family that they have as evidenced by our coaches being referred to as Mom or Dad on the playing field, not simply coach. Through sports we provide a place of belonging, a place of safety, and a place inclusion. In addition to our sports we offer monthly events that serve to expose athletes to new opportunities and experiences and allow more time for social opportunities and growth.
We are fortunate to be in a community where we have so many partnerships with local businesses. These businesses give of their time, talents, resources, and support us financially. Below you will see a list of our sports, number of teams, and numbers of athletes who participate. Because of these partnerships we are able to pay for train-ing, most travel expenses, uniforms, and awards with an annual budget of $40,000. With this budget we are able to provide these opportunities to our athletes at little to no cost. However, each year we continue to grow; and with growth comes increased expenses. Our leadership team has ideas on ways we can further develop athlete leadership, improve physical and mental health, and increase sports training opportunities for our athletes but our growth is limited by our current resources.
Sports / Programs
Cheer – Our Rockets Unified Cheer team program continues to be successful! Winning Regionals & State.
Basketball – We continue to have 4 amazing teams!
Bowling – This year we had 110 Athletes and Unified Partners participate!
Softball – 2 teams of athletes enjoy this sport.
Golf – Our team boasts 17 skills level athletes & 8 unified teams.
Soccer – We have two teams this year that continue to perform at a high level! Our Rockets Blue earned Silver at State while Rockets Green earned the Gold medal.
Bocce – Bocce grew again this year and now has 23 athletes and Unified Partners
Track & Field – Our oldest sports is still going strong with 43 registered athletes this season. Sixteen of these athletes traveled to State earning 24 medals!
Swim – Swim continues to grow exponentially! We are up to 25 swimmers who travel to us from not only Calloway Co but from 5 surrounding counties as well!
Flag Football – Flag football had a great second season! Young Athletes Program (YAP) – YAP continued to thrive bringing together kids ages 2-7 years old. We host 2 programs per year, serving approximately 40 kids. Unified Champion Schools – Both of our local school districts have Youth Activation Committees and offer Unified Track and Field as a Varsity sport!
Special Honors / Participants
USA Games – Seattle, WA – Joseph Ramirez is part of Team Kentucky’s T&F team. He earned Gold Medals in the 100m and 200m dash and 7th place in the shot put! Also attending the games were an inclusive youth pair of Cheryl Chestnut and Kathryn
Foster.
SoKY Coach of the Year – Leigh Toby was awarded the 2018 Special Olympics KY Coach of the Year Award. Leigh is an outstanding, selfless, and dedicated friend to our athletes and programs.
National Banner Recognition – Calloway Co High School was one of only 2 schools in KY to be awarded the National Banner of Recognition for being a school of inclusion meeting 10 standards of excellence.
Athletes – Every one of our sports continues to have strong participation. We have 155 athletes who actively participated in at least one sport this year.
Unified Partners – We increased our number of Unified Partners to greater than 60.
Coaches – We have 32 coaches who have led our athletes and sports this year! Volunteers – Countless! We have had so many people step up to help when needed. We are so thankful for all the parents, caregivers, friends, and community members who give their time for our athletes!
Planning for the Future
With additional funding we can guarantee that athletes and their families never have to be financially burdened by having to contribute to the cost of their sports training or travel. Because we offer more sports than any other delegation in Western KY we don’t have the opportunity to engage in league play to prepare our athletes for regional and state competitions. With additional funding we could add more travel opportunities for our athletes to better prepare them for competition. Due to our growth we have acquired the old Kirksey Ball Park so that our teams have a consistent practice location. These fields currently require a great deal of work in order to create a safe playing environment.
Our vision for the new “Rockets Park” is:
- Repair fencing at the current softball field
- Deconstruct the old tee ball fields and create flag football and soccer fields
- Add fencing to the new fields
- Add bleacher seating areas for all playing fields.
- Construct an indoor bathroom facility in order to meet health department codes required for a concession stand to be operable
- Repair / reconstruct concession stand
- Repair and add equipment storage buildings
- Repair field lights and pay for expense of monthly electrical bills.
- Construct a Murray Rockets sign (see image above).
Rockets Park will provide a safe practice location for our athletes. But our vision for the Park is greater than that. We desire for Rockets Park to be a place we can share with the Calloway County Community. We want our athletes to be in a position to give back to the community that has done so much for us. If we can meet our financial goals we see Rockets Park as an opportunity for our athletes to learn valuable vocational skills needed for them to gain and maintain employment. We want this to be a place where our athletes use their abilities to maintain fields and promote their use to our community. We want this to be a place for inclusion, community, and pride for all people.
Event Overview
Introducing the first annual Special Olympics Gala and celebration benefiting our local Murray Special Olympics delegation. Murray’s premier black tie event celebrating individuals with intellectual disabilities and supporting the special Olympics movement in our community. Guest will enjoy an exciting live and silent auction, a plated dinner complete with cocktails. Attendees will learn the important impact that our Special Olympics delegation has made on the lives of our athletes as well as our community. All of this will be followed by live music and dancing into the night! This event offers businesses and individuals an opportunity for networking with notable members of the business community, entertaining employees and clients and demonstrating a commitment to people with intellectual disabilities and our local Murray Special Olympics delegation.
