Hi Everyone, There is a great article about PTOEC in last week’s edition on St. Clair – Spring Edition of Marketplace magazine. Formed over 40 years ago, the PTOEC - Parent Teacher Organization For Exceptional Children - was founded to provide sporting and recreational activities, socialization and instructional opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the Metro East. Governed by a board of 10 interested citizens along with several important volunteers and athletic directors, their core service is to provide high-quality, diverse sports activities through Special Olympics. "We offer 12 sports now, which is so wonderful," said Board Vice President Tom Biondo. "Most of our 162 members participate in 2 to 4 different sports throughout the year." Those sports supported in the Metro East today by PTOEC include basketball, bocce, bowling, flag football, golf, gymnastics, snowshoeing, soccer, softball, swimming, track and field, and volleyball…. Read the rest of the article on the magazine’s online version. We are on page 15. Very cool! http://www.marketplacemagazineonline.com/early-spring-issue-2014.html
Dateline: Horton Field House - Illinois State University, March 15th, 2015 The PTOEC Sparks women’s basketball team finished their inaugural season in dramatic fashion last month at the Illinois Special Olympics state basketball tournament in Bloomington, Illinois. The Spark’s wrapped up the year with a Silver Medal at state! This outstanding accomplishment capped their first year of competition and spoke to the hard work and dedication these ladies exhibited throughout the season. We are proud of all of you! Please congratulate the Spark’s member when you see them. A special thanks to the coaching staff of Derek Lanxon, Kelly Rensing and Steven Van Asch who transformed an untested group of athletes into a winning team. Go PTOEC Sparks! More PTOEC members in the video and photos links!On Saturday, Nov. 1, Special Olympics flag football teams from across Southern Illinois converged on Trenton Community Park in Trenton, for the inaugural Special Olympics Illinois Flag Football Development Training Tournament, presented by Prudential Financial. The event featured more than 100 athletes on 10 teams. The 5-a-side co-ed format showcased five Special Olympics flag football teams from Southern/Area 15, three from Southeastern/Area 14, and two from host Southwestern/Area 12. The event's main focus was a training session for coaches, athletes and officials and instructional scrimmages. The afternoon featured competitive games. View a video and photos from the flag football event. Read More Two teams from the Parents and Teachers of Exceptional Children (PTOEC) Special Olympics Flag Football program based in Belleville ended their successful seasons this last weekend. They ended it playing in their first ever Special Olympics Flag Football regional tournament in Trenton on 1 November. Special Olympics are looking at making Flag Football a sanctioned sport for the state in this upcoming year. Players came from surrounding communities as far away as Columbia, Highland and Marissa to play flag football. Let’s take a quick look at the two team’s accomplishments this season. They went to three tournaments during the season; Missouri in September, another in Chicago in October, and the last tournament in Trenton for November. They began practicing the first Saturday in July and ended this last weekend. Justice I won two championships (Missouri and Trenton) and a third place finish in the top division in Chicago. Justice II finished with two championships (Missouri and Chicago) and was one play away of possibly securing a third one in Trenton. Justice II went to overtime but failed to score on their last play from scrimmage. They will remember Chicago because it was typical winter weather for the two day tournament. The biggest and greatest accomplishment for the players was scoring. Almost every one of the 24 members of the program scored during the season. Justice I included Anthony Cahoon, Todd Downing, Edward Flexter, Jason Gass, Michael Perrine, Ryan Reinier, Corey Stein, Nathan Schwartz, Stacey Morgan, and Travis Skiles. Justice II included Christian Aubuchon, Jordan Derossett, Kenneth Dowdy, Kelsey Elder, Jennifer Harper, Bradley George, Dusty Kolb, Ian Kukorala , Tyler McDaniel, Alison Roehrig, Kristine Shields, Jonathon Skortz and Michael Strohl The teams celebrated their season on Saturday at the Dairy King in Trenton. They each received a tournament shirt. PTOEC wants to thank the Football training staff. Week after week since the first week in July they dedicated their time. They were Mascoutah’s Rich Crothers, Freeburg’s Bob Kolb, Belleville’s Rich Peppers, James Korba, Ken Skiles, Columbia’s Floyd Schwartz, and Highland’s Kenneth Dowly. They also have to thank Mascoutah High School football team and coaches for coming out and assisting them. The team’s success would have not been achieved if it was not for them!!!! Golf season is officially over for this year. Our athletes did a great job improving their skills and hopefully had a great deal of fun in the process. The final golf event was the 2014 Outdoor Sports Festival which was held in Decatur September 13th and 14th. PTOEC was represented by 4 gold medal winners from the area qualifiers held in June. Andrew Dorries, Thomas Stewart, Travis Skiles, and Tyler McDaniel. The four of them did a great job and came home with more medals and ribbons. The results were:
Congratulations to all 4 of them!! At this time I would like to thank the people who helped during practices this year Bill Howard and Steve Quinn. Also I would like to thank the parents of all our golfers for being at practice to help out wherever they could. Without volunteers and parents, we would be at a loss. My heartfelt thanks go to Dan Polites. Dan graciously donated his time, his facilities (The Practice Tee), and his teaching abilities to our group for practices every week. He has been doing this for several years and has extended his services for the coming year. You can visit Dan’s web site at dpgolf.com. I hope to see you all again next year! Coach Marcia Morgan Mascoutah Herald - July 31, 2014 The Special Olympics World Summer Games will return to the United State after 16 years, having last been held in the United States in 1999 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The most recent World Summer Games were in Athens, Greece in 201I.The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games are expected to bring more than a half -million people to the greater Los Angeles area and will be held July 25 to August 2, 2015. Special Olympics World Games bring public attention to the talents and capabilities of people with intellectual disabilities, helping to change attitudes and break down barriers that excluded them from the mainstream of the community. This is good news for a local athlete and coach. Recently Anthony Cahoon from Marissa went through the selection process and was selected to attend the World Games 2015 as part of the Illinois delegation in soccer. Anthony was selected one of 11 soccer players from Illinois to be part of the seven versus seven soccer that will be held at Sepulveda Sports Complex (Encino). Illinois will send I4 athletes to the World Games. Anthony's local coach also will get to see him play at the World Games 2015. His coach, Rich Crothers of Mascoutah was recently appointed to be part of the staff as an Assistant Coach for soccer. This is his third time (1999, 2006, 2015) being selected as a coach for a National or World Games. In 1999 he was an assistant coach and accompanied local player Jodee Reed to North Carolina. Jodee came home with a gold medal. Anthony is hoping for the same. Rich Larkin a Special Olympics coach out of Jacksonville had this to say of Anthony after his selection, "Anthony rocks. It is rare that you see such spirit and sportsmanship in your opponents, but I have always seen that in Anthony. It's a pleasure to coach against him cause he always gives 100%+ which then makes my players work that much harder. He is a great athlete (and he has a great coach too)." The two of them will attend training at the National Training Center in Indianapolis, Indiana from 2-7 October. There they will meet the other members of the delegation from the United States. They will have a mini camp and be fitted with their uniforms. The Los Angeles Games will also provide a venue for global discussions and action on the impact Special Olympics can have on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. More 200 million people worldwide have an intellectual disability, making it the largest disability group worldwide. Intellectual disability crosses racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic lines, and can occur in any family. Crothers is also hoping to present his PhD dissertation at one of the events. It is called “Lived Experiences of Youth with Cognitive Disabilities Participating in Special Olympics.” General Information · The 2015 Games will be the 14th Special Olympics World Summer Games · The Games are scheduled for July 25 to August 2 2015 · 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from 177 nations · 30,000 Volunteers · 3,000 Coaches · 500,000 Spectators · Football (7/Side) - Sepulveda Sports Complex (Encino) With all the PTOEC athletes in Bloomington for the Summer Games, Belleville and the surrounding cities must have been a ghost town over the weekend of June 13th. Check out these great pictures!
On May 30th, many PTOEC members and supporters participated in the Belleville Shriner's parade with a awesome circus themed float. Oh, and did I mention PTOEC's float won the Belleville Shriner’s "BEST OF PARADE" trophy! Tip of the cap to the hard working float team! Special thanks to Denise Feld for organizing the float this year, to Kenny Olliges for the trailer, to Nancy Lang for donating the balloon clowns, to John and Darla Klaus for their barn and to Oliver C. Joseph for the use of the truck to pull the float. The PTOEC Track and Field team was out in force for the 2014 Area 12 Spring Games at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville on April 26th. All our athletes all did a great job! The crowd was amazing and cheered all the participants on. Local law enforcement participated in amazing numbers - thanks to all of them and to the many other volunteers. A special shout out is necessary for Colleen Nesbit, who had the honor of lighting the torch during the opening ceremonies. Great job Colleen! Not to take anything away from Colleen individually but this honor is really a "tip of the cap" to the entire extended Nesbit family who have been amazing advocates for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Southern Illinois for many years. Serious thanks and congratulations to Colleen and all the Nesbits! But wait, there's more.... Craig Dilliplain was selected to read the Special Olympics Athlete's Oath. Great job Craig! Here are some awesome pictures from an awsome day. Congratulations Coach Gene and to all the PTOEC athletes! PTOEC member Connor Layeski grabbed the silver medal in this month's state basketball skills competition in Bloomington! Connor faced some tough competition last Saturday as the youngest athlete in his division. But a determined mind set and great coaching helped the O'Fallon 19-year-old claim silver in this hotly contested event. Connor joined PTOEC in August 2005 when the family was transferred to Scott AFB. He participates in basketball, volleyball, bowling, swimming, and track & field. Connor enjoys all the PTOEC events, loves movies, and his favorite restaurant is Taco Bell. (Me too!) Way to go Connor! You can post a comment to let Connor know how proud of him we are. PTOEC's very own Coach Jennifer will lead Team Illinois in the Special Olympics USA games this summer in Princeton, New Jersey.
Post a comment wishing Coach Jennifer and all the Team Illinois gymnasts good luck at the USA Summer Games!
Check out PTOEC Snowshoeing team member and Special Olympics Global Messenger Colleen Costello delivering the introductory address at this year's Winter Games in Galena. Great job representing the home team Colleen! If you like Colleen's speech, post a comment to let her know! Danielle Mongeon, a 17-year-old PTOEC member was one of four female gymnasts selected to represent Team Illinois at the Special Olympics USA games this summer in Princeton, New Jersey. A PTOEC member since the 3rd grade, this high school student has participated and medaled in many Special Olympics sports venues, but Danielle's her first love has always been gymnastics at World Class Gym. If you ask her, she would say she loves gymnastics, her coaches and vault the best! Danielle will compete in vault, beam, uneven bars and floor exercise and will be in contention for the All-Around medal. Her long time coach Jennifer Hitt, was also selected as the the Team Illinois gymnastics team and will accompanying Danielle and her teammates to New Jersey. Danielle is so proud to represent Illinois at the USA games and is excited to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event! We'll be cheering for you Danielle - good luck at the USA Summer Games! Post a comment to root for Danielle! |
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