Kaylena Mann: Coach On and Off the Field
By Naomi Cahill Kaylena Mann is no stranger to being on a sports team. The San Fernando Valley native has been a member of a synchronized swimming team, swam for the Vision Swim Club, and participated in triathlons. However, at 16, Mann has been given a title not many her age can say they possess: ...
Giving for the Future
Fern Rudd, like any parent, wants to ensure her child’s future is secure – even long after she’s around to see his life unfold. Her son, Devon Thompson, is a 26-year-old Special Olympics Southern California athlete in the Inland Empire region. He grew up with limited language and verbal skills. It wasn’t until Devon started ...
Officer to Coach: Scott Lazenby Does it All
Scott Lazenby wears a number of different hats, most important of all being a SWAT Crisis Negotiator Training Officer. But he also cherishes his involvement in Special Olympics through the Law Enforcement Torch Run. When he’s not working, Scott spends his time coaching swimming and bowling in Kern County. The involvement stems from early-life experiences ...
Jasmine Miles Becomes a Leader
Jasmine Miles grew up like so many others with intellectual disabilities. Children at school would treat her differently without ever getting to know her, while the rest of the children were treated with more respect, no questions asked. Now 27 years old, Jasmine thinks back and has just one question: Why? "It's like why are ...
Teacher Appreciation: Life Changing
More than four years ago, Thompson Garrard was presented with an opportunity that changed his life forever. Garrard, an avid golfer who wanted to spread his love for the game, was looking for an avenue to teach golf. And when Special Olympics Santa Barbara was looking for coaches, it was the perfect opportunity. Garrard stepped ...
Father Lives Through Daughter’s World Games Experience
Lorenzo Aceves remembers walking around Los Angeles as a tourist during the 1984 Summer Olympics. He was hoping to get a glimpse of the action and the atmosphere inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but to no avail. Fast-forward 31 years later, now as a father to tennis player and Special Olympics Southern California athlete ...
An Eye-Opening Healthy Athletes Experience
By Naomi Cahill and Tracy McDannald Donna Wilson and her daughter, Vanessa, look at Special Olympics as more than a sports organization – thanks to an examination at a Healthy Athletes station. Donna and her husband have five children – three of them adopted and with Down syndrome. The two eldest boys grew up playing ...
Greeter Leans on T.E.A.M.
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 ...