The Regional Spring Games give an opportunity to everyone, from athletes on the track to fans in the stands, to celebrate.

By Charly SHELTON

It’s time for cheering fans, amazing physical feats and a positive environment of support and celebration. This and more will be found on Saturday at the Special Olympics – Santa Clarita Valley and Tri-Valley Regional Spring Games.

“Our athletes have intellectual disabilities but this event shows the public that they are a group of true athletes. They compete and they’re fast and they’re good, but they’re also very humble and have so much fun competing,” said Kim Villa, program specialist for the event. “There are so many great things that you [experience while attending] the event. You celebrate these athletes who work hard to get where they are and who have overcome a lot of obstacles – learning the game of basketball isn’t as easy when you have some intellectual disability – but they get to a point where they can make a basket and dribble down the court and play the game as it’s supposed to be played. They overcome things and they compete and to get to celebrate them is really great.”

The games will be held at Crescenta Valley High from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and, with the opening ceremonies looming near, it’s time for Villa to put the final touches on her organizational efforts.

“I just finished training student volunteers at CVHS. I have a crew that will meet at the high school on Friday to set up,” Villa said. “We have a lot of tents being delivered, the CV football team comes to unload tents and tables and chairs, so we set up pretty much all the equipment on Friday. On Saturday morning we come in and do the detail work. At this point I am firming up volunteers, communicating the last minute details with them and just making sure everybody knows what they’re doing.”

The event begins with opening ceremonies, including a parade of athletes and a torch lighting ceremony. The torch will be carried into the event and passed off through three different athletes and law enforcement officers before the master torch is lit. This begins the games, which will be held in the basketball courts, the lower field and the middle field. Athletes will be playing basketball and bocce ball and competing in various track and field events. In total, there are 356 athletes expected and Villa estimates that nearly 500 fans in the stands will welcome them by cheering them into the stadium.

“I think that the fans in the stands [have] the best job in the house because you get to see every moment of celebration right there in front of you,” Villa said. “While some volunteers are cleaning up trash or cooking hot dogs, others are sitting there watching these athletes accomplish what they set out to do.”

One burning question remains: what is the Tri-Valley area?

“Somebody just made up a name a long time ago. I am dead serious,” Villa said. “Tri-Valley goes from Glendale to Calabasas. There aren’t three valleys in there and nobody knows how [anyone] came up with that name, but it was there long before anyone currently involved on [the event organization team] was there. The hardest thing about my job is getting people to understand that we are part of Tri-Valley, that Glendale is in Tri-Valley. Because it doesn’t make sense.”

For those looking to be even more involved, Montrose Church will be holding a pep rally to celebrate and cheer on the Glendale Special Olympics’ track and field, bocce and basketball teams the night before the event. On Friday night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the church will serve up barbecue dinners while attendees meet with the athletes and learn cheers from the Rosemont Middle School cheerleaders that will be used at the event the following day. The suggested donation is $5 at the door, and more info can be found on the calendar under the “Connect” tab of the website MontroseChurch.org.

So whether Tri-Valley resident, church barbecue attendee or otherwise, everyone is invited to come to the event and cheer on these athletes and celebrate their accomplishments. The event is free to attend as a spectator, and will be held this Saturday at CVHS from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Access to the stands is available in the 4400 block of Ramsdell Avenue at the field.

  Charly Shelton