Career Course at the Adjutant General School on Fort Jackson,
measures the distance between the target ball, or pallina, and large balls tossed by Bocce competitors. Bass sa... VIEW ORIGINAL
When Jackson Ware dipped the Olympic torch into the cauldron the 2016 South Carolina Special Olympics Summer Games burst hot across the Midlands.
1,200 athletes, 400 coaches and 600 volunteers from across the Palmetto State descended on Fort Jackson May 6-7 to compete in an event founded on the principle that those with intellectual disabilities
can benefit from participation in sports.
"It was heavy and hot," said Ware after lighting the cauldron with Col. Morris Goins, Fort Jackson's chief of staff, during the opening ceremony May 6. "It felt really good to light it." Ware competed in
power lifting.
As part of the opening ceremony the torch was carried over a seven-mile course from the South Carolina State House to Fort Jackson.
Jackson as the athletes vied against each other in a variety of games including swimming, powerlifting, softball, bocce and gymnastics.
The athlete's passion for competing made a lasting impact on those volunteering.
"It's nice to see athletes of different levels out here participating," said Capt. Alex Bass, a member of the Captain's Career Course at the Adjutant General School, and a volunteer at the games. "It's really cool to see that everyone is excited.
"To see how much pride they have makes it mean more than just volunteering."
"I enjoy all of it. It's the whole vibe and the energy of this event that makes me come back," said Deborah Jacobs, the Special Olympics of South Carolina's Director of Administrative Service, who
has been doing this event for 19 years.
The athletes, like power lifter Cameron Neely, train daily for their sport just like any other athletes.
In three years the training has paid off for him, his mother said.
"He could hardly lift the bar three years ago," Melissa Neely said while cheering her son on during the bench press event. "Now he is just blowing us away."
Besides power lifting, Cameron competes in Bocce and bowling.
"They work just as hard in the gym as any other lifter," said Eric Hubbs, a Special Olympics certified powerlifting instructor. Competing in the games "builds their confidence and their morale up"
and "puts them in a situation where they are competing and setting personal goals and records."
Whether winning a medal or not, the athletes had fun and made the best of their weekend.
The games were capped off by a victory party and dance at the Solomon Center May 7 where they could mingle with active duty Soldiers dressed to the nines.
"I really like the dancing and socializing," said Jason Deschamps, a 41-year-old member of the Carolina Hammer Head Sharks, who competed in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter backstroke.
"This little girl beat me in Charleston. She ain't going to beat me this year!"
All the athletes were winners, Goins said, because, "You all are competing when people like me are too lazy to."
The games were the "best thing out there" for parents of Special Olympians.
"It is an opportunity for our kids to excel at a high level," Melissa Neely said. "They are individually trying their hardest and really showing us what they are made of."
(Demetria Mosley contributed to this story.)
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