The Special Olympics provides opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities, and on March 21, a tennis tournament was held to give them a day of friendly competition and fun.

    The tournament was organized and run by Macy Rashid, a junior at Green Hope, Ian Dohm, a junior at Cary Academy, Ashley Demsko, a junior at Apex, and Cullen Baker, a senior at Apex. They partnered with the Western Wake Tennis Association and The Loop Pizza to help make the event possible.

    “I was motivated to get involved with Special Olympics because of my tennis coach. She knows how much I love the game and knew I would enjoy helping out,” said Rashid.

    Rashid, Dohm, Demsko and Baker have all been coached by Kirstie Marx, Director of the Sports Development Team with Special Olympics. She started helping when, through one of her students, she realized that many of the athletes are coached by their parents rather than actual coaches.

    “[The event went] awesome,” said Marx. “Everyone seemed to have a good time.”

    The tournament took place at Kildaire Farms Racquet and Swim Club, and lasted the entire day. Matches were played in a unified doubles format, where an able-bodied volunteer was paired to play with a special needs athlete. Everyone who competed received some sort of award or trophy.

    “I decided to help because I love helping other people,” said Shelby Scattergood, a freshman at Cary High, and volunteer at the event.

    The volunteers at the tournament ranged from young elementary school children to grown adults. They not only acted as doubles partners, but also as scorekeepers and ball boys. Several Athens students also competed in the tournament.

    “It’s [competing] fun, and getting to meet people,” said Jamie Birch, a senior at Athens who competed in the tournament. “Winning and having friends doing it with you is the best part.”

    The Special Olympics has strived to encourage those with intellectual disabilities to perform at their very best for many years; it is a global non-profit organization and serves nearly 200 million disabled people. The main goal of the organization is to spread the message that those with disabilities can, and will, succeed as long as they are given the chance. This tournament is one of hundreds organized every year for athletes with special needs.

    “We were able to bring out 24 special needs athletes and over 70 volunteers,” said Dohm. “The weather was beautiful and the athletes were overjoyed. We really appreciate everyone who came out and devoted their Saturday to a great cause.”

    After the matches had finished for the day and awards given out, everyone left cheerful and hoping for another similar event in the future.

     “Overall, I think the tournament was great. All the athletes and volunteers left smiling and everyone seemed to have fun,” said Rashid. “I am already in the process of planning the next tournament. It is scheduled for October, and with the experience I gained organizing this past tournament, I am hoping I will be able to make the next one even better.”