Together. Each other. Achieves. More.
That’s how Kenny Goode interprets the concept of a team, thanks to his uncle, Peter.
Kenny has played basketball for Temecula Valley since 2012, scoring as many as 38 points in a game. But the Menifee resident also prides himself on being a “team player.”
“I’ll move the ball around to whoever is on my team,” he added. “Peter, my uncle, told me ‘TEAM’ actually does stand for something.”
Listed at 6-1 and plays center, Kenny comes from a family of tall genes. Well, one-half, anyway.
“My mom is 5-foot-2 so I didn’t get it from that side,” Kenny quipped.
“I like the popularity part. I’m more of a social guy, talk about anything. When I was first coming into this, I was always trying to find the right girl for me, a girlfriend.”
Kenny Goode
Of Kenny’s 26 Special Olympics medals, 10 are gold, and his brother’s girlfriend even started calling him Michael Phelps, the decorated Olympic swimmer.
Becoming a “basketball champion” is what drives Kenny.
“I will go to a gym, Menifee Fitness 24/7, four to five times per week, work out and play basketball,” he said. “Just because I’m so dedicated.”
Dedication is something that has always been in Kenny’s DNA. As a 12-year-old, he recalled, the goal was to become an Eagle Scout. Kenny checked that accomplishment off his list eight years later.
When he’s not competing, Kenny is a dedicated courtesy clerk at Vons in Sun City, where he has spent the past three years.