Special Olympics track meet continues to rebound

Jim Bell, the adapted physical education specialist in the Sequoia Union High School District was co-coordinator, and also emceed the event. Bell said the emphasis was on the event being “unified” with students from 13 various special education categories as well as general education students to promote the overarching themes of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“It promotes that,” Bell said. “And you get the spirit of competition and that sense of belonging. … They all just belong.”

Bell has worked for SUHSD for over 25 years. He helped organize the first Special Olympics Super Sports Day held in the late 1990s at Burlingame High School. Prior to the pandemic, the event grew to include various school districts throughout San Mateo County, and included various age groups, including participants from middle school and elementary school.

This year’s event, co-coordinated by independent living skills teacher Holly Parry, is the third held since the pandemic. It was the biggest of the three and was limited to high school students. Opening ceremonies included the playing of the national anthem and the reciting of the Special Olympics athlete oath.

Competition opened with the mile run, followed by the 20-meter wheelchair slalom; the 20-meter wheelchair assisted walk; the 4x10 wheelchair assisted walk; the 50-meter dash; the long jump; the turbo javelin throw; the softball throw; and the 4x100 relay.

“We had music going, we had the atmosphere, the sun was shining, the kids had some pizza,” Woodside athletic director Tim Faulkner said. “It was a great day.”

The event was held during school hours. While this prohibited open attendance for the general public, it allowed many Woodside students to attend.

“Teachers brought classes out and cheered on [the participants] … and we rolled PE classes through,” Faulkner said.

Faulkner said Woodside will host the event again next year.

After the pandemic, the Super Sports Day returned, but due to the limited number of participants from a smattering of schools, it “was barely even anything,” Bell said. In 2022, the event included all high schools from SUHSD.

“We came back pretty strong,” Bell said of last year’s event. “It was kind of fun to see.”

Bell said next year’s Super Sports Day will continue to grow. Pre-pandemic, the event’s opening ceremonies included a parade with an Olympics-style entrance. The parade became one of the focal points of the event.

“It took 30 minutes to go through the parade,” Bell said. “We’d all be stressing if we were going to be able to get to the other events. I loved those days. Those were the best.”

The goal is to return the parade next year.

“Next year we’ll do the parade,” Bell said. “That’s a whole other logistical challenge.”

Bell said he hopes to regrow the event as well. For nearly 20 years, the annual attendance for the countywide event topped 1,000 participants, more than twice the number as Thursday’s event.

“It used to be like one of the biggest events in the area for Special Olympics in the county,” Bell said.