Special Olympics, an athletic organization started in 1968, is in its 21st season at Neuqua Valley.

Special Olympics is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Neuqua Valley is only one of many institutions around the world that participates in the program.   Special Olympics offers various sporting events year round. Neuqua has Special Olympics teams for unified soccer in the fall, basketball and swimming in the winter and bowling  and track and field in the spring. Each player picks the sports in which they would like to try out for and compete in. Some players only choose one, and some choose to participate in all of them.

Austin Cleary, a senior athlete on the Special Olympics basketball team, explains that he is excited for his upcoming season. Last year, he won the team’s award for best point guard and he hopes to continue his winning streak this year.

Madeline Gerald, the Neuqua Valley Special Olympics’ coordinator and basketball head coach,, explains that the players “try to have fun and stay safe,” while preparing for the competitions. They “use a lot of teamwork and easy drills.” She also says that they “rely heavily on our peer [partners]” to help keep practices running safe and sound. They have their practices every Tuesday and Thursday for one to two hours after school. There are two basketball teams, blue and gold, for competition games.

The team competes against other Special Olympic school teams in the area. The home games are typically at 6:30 p.m. in the main gym.