Loyola Marymount students volunteer by the hundreds to make the Special Games special for athletes with physical or mental disabilities.

by Maureen Ryan

FOR THIRTY YEARS, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) students have held the Special Games to bring together the special needs community of Los Angeles and the LMU community for a day of fun, togetherness, and friendly sportsmanship. Students at LMU founded the Special Games after hosting the Special Olympics there in 1977. It was such a rousing success that they decided to create their own annual event, which they initiated the following year–with a few changes. Unlike the Special Olympics, which are geared toward those with mental disabilities, the Special Games are open to people with physical or mental disabilities. The games are also noncompetitive: the focus is on enjoying the games for their own sake and forging relationships with others. Every athlete is a winner.

It is the students that really make the Special Games successful. From organizing the events to handling publicity and donations, the games are entirely student-run. The director of Special Games is outgoing senior Vera Kwan, who is responsible for the hundreds of volunteers, mostly students, who show up to help. The games also draw volunteers from the Los Angeles area. Most of them pair up with the athletes, so that each one has a buddy to assist and encourage him or her. Others run events, serve as greeters, and aid in the smooth running of the games. In addition to the sports, there are carnival activities too, including a petting zoo, music, and performances by LMU dancers.

This means that for an event of this magnitude, there must be more volunteers than athletes-and there were four hundred athletes last year, with a thousand participants in all. They came from all over the Los Angeles area, including Arc of Southeast Los Angeles County and the Junior Blind Association. Senior Mitch DeGuzman, in charge of events and equipment, says that the participants are "all ages, from everywhere and anywhere, from the blind or the deaf, [to those with] muscular dystrophy." Some, he added, have even been coming since the first Special Games.

Kwan notes, "Many of the athletes come from regional centers, so they want to get out of the house and experience interaction with students and feel accepted." But it is not just the athletes who look forward to the action; the students also find it a transformative experience. It's an important way to raise awareness about-and interaction with—a community of special-needs people that is over 1 million in Los Angeles alone. DeGuzman agrees. He points out, "We're all special individuals," and Special Games is just like "a big party, with a lot of joy in the house."

For more information, visit www.lmu.edu/specialgames