Winter Season Athletes head to Regionals this weekend

by Loni Rahm, with appreciation for information and photos contributed by Brooke Sanders (coach), Steve Hilde (coach) and Sarah Hudkins (parent). Gold Medal winner Michael Hilde is pictured above with Head Coach Steve Hilde.

Standing on a podium to receive a gold medal represents the Mt. Everest of athletic competition. Few achieve it and all who do have worked hard to earn it. Michael Hilde knows that. Michael is a member of the Lake Chelan Valley Special Olympics Team who recently earned a gold medal in his division at State for bowling. The smile on his face says it all.

I had the opportunity to chat with Brooke Sanders, one of the coaches of the LCVSO. The team may be new (formed in early 2023), but coaching Special Olympic athletes is “old hat” for Sanders. She got her start coaching Special Olympiads while in college at UCLA. According to Sanders, “it was the best part of my week”.  She loved experiencing the enthusiasm and perseverance from the athletes, and the joy she received while shaping and encouraging their growth.

Sanders expected that door had firmly closed after moving to the Lake Chelan Valley. “I thought there’s no way to start a Special Olympics team in such a small town,” she said.

But it seems a parallel passion was already in motion.

When the concept for the new Lake Chelan Community Center was conceived, Special Olympics Washington signed on to be a partner and to start a Special Olympics program in the Chelan area. Both share a common mission of inclusiveness, sports development, and fitness.

At the time, Luke Wall, a resident of the Chelan area, was the East Region Manager for Special Olympics. He has now moved on to lead the highly successful Only7Seconds Non-Profit. The current East Region Manager, Tim Toon, picked up on the foundation that was laid by Luke and the Lake Chelan Community Center.

How is the Lake Chelan Valley Special Olympics funded?

The fledgling organization was able to secure a grant to fund the start-up, and the soon-to-be-annual Fire & Cop on Top Event — held for the first time last August — is anticipated to provide annual funding support for the program into the future.

“We held a fundraiser in August called Fire and Cop on Top in the Safeway/Starbucks parking lots. August is a perfect time for an excuse to get wet, and our local Fire Department and Police Department were happy to help by sending staff and equipment,” stated the group.

“It was highly successful, so we would love to thank the community for all their donations and support. Those funds go towards practice space, equipment, jerseys and travel to regionals/state.”

The organization is moving forward slowly and steadily. During the spring and summer season, LCVSO had 4 athletes participate in bowling, 2 participate in soccer and 4 participate in bocce ball.

At this time, there are 4 winter season athletes playing basketball: Michael Hilde, Trenton Hudkins, Ryder Stevens, and Ben Nygreen. The LCVSO coaches hope to continue with soccer and bocce ball this coming spring/summer and are exploring other sports of interest to current and potential participants.

The group indicated that “Swimming is a sport we are highly interested in, but we haven’t been successful in securing a pool to practice in.”

Regional Competitions

Each season there are regional competitions held to showcase a variety of sports. LCVSO had a bowling team for our fall season and said “that was a blast”. Michael Hilde and Trenton Hudkins went to the Regional competition and Michael continued on to State, where he won a gold medal at state in his division!

On Saturday, February 4th, LCVSO athletes will be competing in the regional competition in Sunnyside. Since they don’t have enough athletes for a 5-on-5 team, they will be participating in the Individual Skills competition.

There are three competitions that each team member individually participates in – including dribbling, passing and shooting. The association hopes to grow our team in the future and either compete in 5-on-5 competitions or the team skills competition!

Team pictures before we head to Regionals next weekend! Missing one of our athletes today, but we will snap some more group pics in Sunnyside! Love the dedication and positivity these athletes bring each week🏀 Go Lakers!!!

You’re invited to the State Competition March 1-3 in Wenatchee

The 2024 Winter Season State competition is March 1st-3rd with venues in Wenatchee, Leavenworth and Mission Ridge. If the LCVSO has athletes move on from Regionals on February 4th, they will compete at State.

Spectators are welcome to cheer on the athletes at the various venues throughout the 3-day event. (more information below in the story).

“If you have the chance to attend the State winter games this year, we highly suggest it,” said Sanders. “It’s an absolutely awesome experience”.

A big thank you to the Community

  • Coaches and parents are quick to thank Chelan Lanes for their generous support, saying “our bowling team practiced at Chelan Lanes this past fall and it was wonderful!”
  • Safeway/Starbucks let us set up our Fire and Cop on Top fundraiser in their parking lot, and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office and Chelan Fire Department provided staff and equipment to make this event a great success. There is currently no date set for the 2024 event. Please follow LCVSO on facebook for details as they are confirmed.
  • The basketball team is currently practicing at Manson High School gym, and the LCVSO coaches are super thankful for their support.
  • Chelan Fresh has also reached out to us for partnership as we continue to grow. We look forward to exploring ways to work together.
  • Silver Bell Winery recently hosted Chelan Links Permanent Jewelry and 5% of all Chelan Links profits from that day will be donated to Lake Chelan Valley Special Olympics. We would like to thank them both as well!
  • Last but not least, the community has been so supportive with donations of time, money, facilities, ideas and enthusiasm.

Meet some of the LCVSO athletes and coaches

Community involvement is crucial to our growth

This is our first year, so we are hoping to continue building our athlete and volunteer participants. We are currently working to solidify our spring and summer programs with additional team members, so please share our contact information with any potential athletes that you might know. Athletes can start participating in Special Olympics at age 8 and there is no age cap!

We are always looking for volunteers, so please keep a look out for a need in our future seasons. Specifically, if we are able to form a swimming team and secure a facility, we would need volunteer coaches who know how to coach competitive swimming.

Monetary donations can be a tremendous help. Just click here and be sure to use the drop down box and select Chelan County. Also, checks can be sent directly to Special Olympics (address provided below) and be sure to put Lake Chelan Valley in the description. All money donated will stay locally to support uniforms, rental space fees (bowling, gym, field, etc), equipment and to offset hotel costs during tournaments.

The sky’s the limit and we look forward to finding more ways for our community to support these amazing athletes!

How to become involved: donate, volunteer, suggest an athlete, or ?

Checks can be sent to: Special Olympics Washington Tim Toon – East Region Manager 2118 Crawford Dr. Walla Walla, WA 99362. Don’t forget to mark Lake Chelan Valley on the check to ensure the monies are routed to the local organization.

For additional information about the Lake Chelan Valley Special Olympics, to volunteer or suggest potential athletes, please contact Brooke Sanders at (253) 508-0491 or email her at brookesanders712@gmail com. Follow the LCVSO group on facebook

Special Olympics of Washington

Special Olympics Washington serves 5,700 athletes and offers Olympic-style individual and team sports that provide meaningful training and competition opportunities for persons with intellectual disabilities.

2024 State Winter Games Start:Friday, March 1 and Conclude Sunday, March 3 with competition venues at Wenatchee, Leavenworth & Mission Ridge

Join us for our state championships for alpine skiing, basketball, cheerleading, cross country skiing, figure skating, snowboarding, snow shoeing, and speed skating.

Please check back for more details, including competition schedules, sport and venue fact sheets, and competition rules.

Volunteer Opportunities! Hundreds of volunteers are needed help make our State Winter Games possible. Check out all of the available volunteer opportunities here.

Special Olympics: A legacy of love since 1968

Special Olympics was started by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968 as a way to provide people with intellectual disabilities a place to play and feel included.

Today, her vision has become a global movement with more than 5.7 million athletes competing in 200 countries and jurisdictions.

Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success. Our athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment—on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.

For more information about the Worldwide Special Olympics, visit their website.