Sporting shortfall

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November 22, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sun Nov 22, 2009, 11:23 PM CST

By Emily Younker

eyounker@joplinglobe.com

Thomas Allen, 16, showed little emotion as he bowled his last frame Saturday morning at Fourth Street Bowl, finishing the game with a score of 89.

But when the Kansas City resident and first-time Special Olympics athlete was awarded a silver medal moments later, his face broke into a smile, and he immediately joined his mother, brother, sister and grandmother to share his victory.

More than 1,200 athletes came to Joplin over the weekend for the Special Olympics State Indoor Championships, which consisted of competitions in bowling, volleyball and flag football.

But behind the medal ceremonies and friendly competition, Special Olympics Missouri is facing somewhat of a financial burden.

“We are kind of struggling, just like every other nonprofit and most businesses,” said Mandi Mueller, public relations coordinator. “The sponsorships are way down this year.”

The indoor championships in Joplin cost about $88,000 for food, hotels, staff time, and building and equipment rentals, Mueller said. Much of the money comes from sponsorships.

Along with the state basketball championships in St. Charles, the indoor championships remain a two-night event. But reduced sponsorships have cut the Special Olympics’ other main events — the summer games in Springfield and the outdoor championships in Columbia — to one-night events.

The Special Olympics of Missouri has canceled its annual leadership conference and has left some staff positions unfilled, Mueller said.

Tim Houk, who coaches a flag football team from St. Joseph, said his team has had difficulty this year getting donations and sponsorships from businesses and organizations.

“It’s not that they don’t help, they’re just not helping as much,” he said. “Our account hasn’t been able to keep rebuilding itself because of the recession. More in financial fees are going out than we have coming in.”

Houk said that has forced his team to rely more on fundraising and on finding individual sponsors. It also has required him and other volunteers to work harder to support their teams, he said, though the net effect isn’t negative.

“It hasn’t stopped us from doing anything we wouldn’t normally do,” he said. “We wouldn’t do any less for these children.”

Billie Cannon, of St. Joseph, said her son, Justin Bozarth, who plays on Houk’s team, helped with fundraising by selling gift cards to businesses such as Sonic.

Cannon, who made the four-hour drive to Joplin on Friday night with Bozarth’s grandparents, said she wouldn’t have missed his flag football game for anything.

“I love it,” she said of the Special Olympics. “It’s made him have confidence in himself. Everything he says (and) does is around the Special Olympics.”

Bozarth, 19, also plays basketball and baseball, but he said flag football is now his favorite sport.

“I like it,” he said. “It’s pretty fun (with) all the running.”

Coach Karen Smotherman, of Nevada, said funding has been somewhat problematic for her team as well. She said she hasn’t seen any money yet from her two biggest sponsors, though she anticipates that it will come in eventually.

“It was hard to get the money together to come to this,” Smotherman said. “It’s been a struggle this year, for sure.”

But other businesses have stepped up to help, she said. Several organizations in Nevada offered scholarships for some of the athletes to participate in the championships, she said, and the Nevada middle school and high school student councils provided volunteer time and fundraisers.

“The school (district) has been really great,” she said.

Linda Wiederholt, Thomas Allen’s coach, said the Park Hill School District in Kansas City has held fundraisers for her athletes. She said her team hasn’t been noticeably affected by the economic downturn, but finding donors or sponsors requires some effort.

“They made their budget, but they’re having to work harder,” she said. “You have to work harder at it, but it (funding) is still there.”

Maria Mora, Allen’s grandmother, said she has attended most of his practices, and she drove to Joplin on Friday with the rest of the family to watch him participate.

“We just came to support him,” she said moments before he received his medal. “He was just making sure we were going to be here cheering him on.”

Sports offered

Special Olympics Missouri offers training and competition opportunities in 21 sports:

Alpine skiing, aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, bowling, cross-country skiing, equestrian, figure skating, flag football, floor hockey, golf, gymnastics, horseshoes, power lifting, snowshoeing, soccer, softball, speed skating, tennis and volleyball.

Source: www.somo.org