Billy Church, 49, a participant in the Maryland Special Olympics since volunteers began organizing the games in 1970, is marking the 40th milestone of the games in his usual way. He is playing in them.
He will pitch in a softball tournament this weekend, one of nearly 30 sports competitions that will draw 1,200 athletes to Towson University. The Church family will be attending the community block party, where Billy hopes to spot Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and champion figure skater Kimmie Meissner, who will help launch the opening ceremony Friday. He will watch the traditional lighting of the torch, the Flame of Hope he helped carry from his hometown in Havre de Grace to Aberdeen.
Billy Church was 9 when he entered the state's first Special Olympics as a track and field competitor. That was in 1970, and he hasn't missed a year yet, as his room full of medals and trophies demonstrates.
Today, Church will help launch the 40th summer games of Special Olympics in Maryland, attending the community block party with his family and hoping to spot Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and champion figure skater Kimmie Meissner during the opening events. He'll watch the traditional lighting of the torch, having helped carry the Flame of Hope from his hometown of Havre de Grace to Aberdeen earlier this week.
And then he'll get down to business, pitching this weekend in a softball tournament, one of nearly 30 competitions that will draw 1,200 athletes to Towson University, the longtime site of the games.
He is hoping to repeat last year's winning performance on the ballfield and keep the softball trophy in Harford County.
"I practice softball every Thursday and Saturday," said Church, 49, who was born with developmental disabilities. "I play pitcher and second base. I want to bring the gold home this year, too."
Along the way, he has lifted weights, golfed, skied and played floor hockey. He has competed every year and has a roomful of medals and trophies to show for his efforts. In 1995, he earned sailing's silver medal in the World Games, which drew about 7,000 athletes to New Haven, Conn.
Anna Church said she never minds playing chauffeur for her son, who as the games approached kept up his practice schedule while continuing his volunteer work at the Level Volunteer Fire Co. near his home and with the Red Cross.
"The sports keep him occupied, and he doesn't get bored with all the activity," she said.
Lessons beyond fields
The competitions, which this year will draw twice the number of players as the first event, give children and adults opportunities to move from the sidelines into the games, said Tom Waite, a senior vice president with Special Olympics of Maryland.
"This goes way beyond the fields, courts and gyms," Waite said. "These athletes are learning many life lessons. They work with their teams. They understand winning and losing. And they learn how to continue a healthy lifestyle outside of Special Olympics."
Athletes range in age from five 8-year-olds to 85-year-old Pauline Lloyd of Frederick, who has practiced her bocce for months and is looking forward to kayak lessons this summer.
"I like sports very much," she said. "It's good exercise for me."
Waite credits volunteers, athletes and their families for the success and longevity of the organization. Carole Glowacki, who watched as her daughter competed in swimming events in the 1970s, still keeps an eye on Karen Glowacki, now 50, as she trains for the Special Olympics world sailing competition in Greece next year.
"Special Olympics taught Karen to focus and gave her a great deal of confidence," she said. "She learned to fail and to pick herself up."
Many volunteers are the offspring of those who helped start the games and some are participating on "unified teams" with Special Olympians in what organizers call integrated competitions. Those contests bring together students with and without disabilities for an inclusive experience.
'All-around athlete'
The unified approach is a growth area for Special Olympics Maryland, which is setting up partnerships with area schools. Special-needs children are no longer isolated in the classroom, and that is translating to the playing fields, Waite said.
Depending on how the softball tournament goes, Billy Church might face Gary Scott, 40, on the diamond this weekend. The Randallstown resident will be pitching for a city team during what is by his count his 30th appearance in Special Olympics. Coaches for the city teams call Scott one of the best hurlers.
"I am good at strikeouts," Scott said.
Like Church, Scott started with track and moved on to soccer, field hockey and weight lifting, for which he won three medals at the 1995 World Games.
He prefers the slower pace of softball, he said. In winter, he competes in skiing and helps officials at competitions on the slopes.
"I am an all-around athlete," he said.
Lisa Shubow, physical-education teacher and Special Olympics coordinator at Claremont High School in the city, which Scott attended and still visits, urges students to participate in the games. She remembered helping Scott into his first pair of skis and easily identified players on the well-worn team photos that fill the school's trophy case.
"We can always hear Lisa's voice cheering us from far away," Scott said.
The games provide developmentally disabled children and adults lifelong lessons, Shubow said.
"It's great socialization," she said. "They learn to work with people they know and others they don't know. And they learn the rules, which can transcend to their work lives. If you learn to work on a team, you can go out into the world."
After walking with the Flame of Hope on Tuesday, Church went to the Baltimore County Sailing Center in Essex. With his skipper, Bill Wilkinson, he practiced techniques as they prepared for the Special Olympics sailing competition, which will take place next month in St. Mary's County.
When they sail, Church usually sits in the front of the small sloop and handles the jib. Like many sailors, the pair have flipped over. But the skipper said his mate is unflappable.
"We just flip back over and keep on going," Wilkinson said.