Athlete
Profile
Florida
Athlete Trains With High School Team Preparing for World Games
 |
| Alberto
Nieves of Florida shows some of the Special Olympics medals and awards
he has received. He will compete in tennis at the 2007 World Games. |
In
preparation for the World Games in China, Alberto Nieves, age 17 of Florida,
has been practicing with his high school tennis team.
Every
Monday and Wednesday afternoon, Alberto joins the Gulf Coast High School tennis
team to practice. "It's great," he says, adding that he has become
friends with the other students on the team. In addition to tennis, Alberto competes
in basketball and aquatics with Special Olympics. At school, he also trains with
the football team, lifting weights with them.
His
mother, Maria, says that Alberto "really wants to go to school" and
loves the interaction he has with the other athletes. "Everyone at school
is very excited and proud" of Alberto's selection for Team USA, she added.
Alberto
recently returned from the Special Olympics Tennis Championships at Hilton Head,
S.C., where he earned a gold medal for singles and a bronze medal for doubles.
His mother noted that it was Alberto's first experience competing in doubles.
He
truly exemplifies the reality of what Special Olympics does for its athletes:
inclusion in school among peers without disabilities, wonderful training
opportunities to enhance sport skills, and inclusion in society with the
confidence and pride to hold a job just as everyone deserves the opportunity
to do. |
Learning
new things is nothing new for Alberto. Born in Puerto Rico, he speaks both Spanish
and English. Alberto's family (mother, father, 3 brothers and 2 sisters) came
to the United States in 1994 when he was four years old. "At home, everyone
speaks Spanish," said Maria, "and at school, it's English."
In
addition to school and sports, Alberto has begun a job through his school at
Publix supermarket, where he bags groceries, restocks items and corrals shopping
carts. He truly exemplifies the reality of what Special Olympics does for its
athletes: inclusion in school among peers without disabilities, wonderful training
opportunities to enhance sport skills, and inclusion in society with the confidence
and pride to hold a job just as everyone deserves the opportunity to do.
Coach
Profile
Sailing
Is An 'All-Consuming Passion' for this coach!
Special
Olympics World Games sailing
Coach Jack Yoes of Houston, Texas, has an "all-consuming passion" that
he hopes others in the United States will catch – sailing.
Yoes
recently met with officials from US Sailing (the national governing board for
the sport) and reports that US Sailing is very excited about creating a national
partnership agreement with Special Olympics with the goal of increasing athlete
participation in sailing all over the U.S. "I'm very excited to be working
with US Sailing on that effort," Yoes said.
US
Sailing maintains a "how to" program for its member organizations. "During
this year, US Sailing will be generating that template for Special Olympics programs," said
Yoes, making it easier for local sailing clubs to add a program for people with
intellectual disabilities.
"I
think it's going to be a great thing," he said. "It will help get more
people sailing at the grassroots level." He noted that there are only about
13 Special Olympics state programs that offer sailing at varying degrees, with
about 550 athletes participating in sailing. "It's a small number, but we're
out to change that."
As
head coach of the Team USA sailing team, he will lead five crews consisting of
a Special Olympics athlete and a Unified Partner. The sailing team has one Level
2 crew, which means the athlete will drive the boat at least half of the time,
and four Level 1 crews, which means the Unified Partner will drive the boat and
the athlete is responsible for head sail trim.
The
sailing crews will compete at Lake Dianshan, which is the only natural lake
in the Shanghai area. The Chinese will supply the boats for all sailing competitors.
Yoes has the specs for the boats to be used in China and has supplied the U.S.
crews with information about three similar boats that they can practice for
the most meaningful training experience.
Yoes
is a sailing race officer, helps run regattas and is part of a team that will
put on several national level events this year. He also competes in Unified
golf with his son, 26-year-old son Ken, who has been competing in Special Olympics
since he was nine.
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