Diocese sponsors Special Olympics clinic in Sioux City

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
March 17, 2005

The Diocese of Sioux City sponsored the Special Olympics Iowa Basketball Clinic again this year with two sessions being held the morning of March 8 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

The college women's teams participating in the 14th Annual NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Championship kicked off the tournament by helping with the clinic and interacting with the Special Olympics athletes.

Father Dennis Meinen, a priest of the Diocese of Sioux City, was on hand to watch the athletes interact and play basketball together.

"The athletes are really good at making them feel that they are capable," said Father Meinen. "I think the diocese looks for opportunities to lift people up who might be disabled or disadvantaged."

According to Father Meinen, the diocese decides to sponsor this event "because we know and we try to live by the Christian principle that we should have a preferential option for the poor. It means more than people who are materially poor - people that have disabilities. Only these kids today don't know that they have a disability."

The clinic was split into two sessions due to the number of athletes participating. There were over 150 Special Olympics athletes from the Siouxland area participating. There were 16 NAIA teams including hundreds of players and coaches in attendance. The first session ran from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and the second from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

"Anytime you can make time for our athletes, they appreciate it and so do we," said Chuck Reed, from Special Olympics Iowa. "The athletes take time out of their busy schedule. They are getting ready to play in maybe the most important tournament they are ever going to play in their lives. They have a lot of things on their mind, and they take time to come and work with our athletes. I think that is a very special thing."

This event is a highlight of the tournament not only for the Special Olympics athletes but also for the NAIA players and coaches.

"I always marvel at the fact that athletes are willing to come in here, but I think what happens is, they too are changed because of this interaction," said Father Meinen. "You see some of the athletes are so patient with the kids. That has got to stay with them not only when they leave Sioux City but when they leave their college athletics that they did touch someone who needed help."

During the clinic, the special athletes shoot hoops, pass the ball back and forth, run drills and finally have a relay race at the end. The relay race involves the participants of the clinic all at once.

Melanie Brumbaugh, an athlete from Taylor University in upland Indiana, noted that the clinic was a neat experience for her. She shot around with a man named Tom and held his hand while he shot.

"I think it is a really great opportunity," said Brumbaugh. "It isn't something that we are able to do every day. It has been a blessing to me, and I hope it has been a blessing to them. I really enjoy it. It is really neat to see their love for excitement."

Abby Wilson, a senior at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind., explained that she and her team have been able to participate in the NAIA tournament and this clinic for the last three years. She added that some of the kids remember them from years past and go running up to them when they get there.

"I am going to be a physical education teacher, so for me this is just experience," said Wilson. "It is really awesome that we get to do this. It is one of the things that we look forward to every year. I know that they look forward to it too. It is a really good experience."

In addition to the free clinic, the NAIA gave all the Special Olympics athletes and coaches vouchers to attend a game during the tournament.

"The athletes from the Sioux City area in Special Olympics really look forward to this so they want to come," said Reed. "When you get the athletes and the players both wanting to do this and you are available to do this, it all comes together. It's a slam dunk. It is as good as it is going to get."