My Experience with the

March 11, 1997

Special Olympics

By BILL McQUEEN

Special Olympics bas- ketball is currently being of- fered at the UPEI Sports Cen- tre as a community based pro- gramme. Athletes in the pro- gramme reflect the true es- sence of sports by the smiles and laughs that echo in the fieldhouse Monday nights from four to five.

Pre-registration at UPEI was one of the factors that led me to be involved with the programme. During my six hour wait in registration lines last year, amidst the com- plaints of line-ups, and the shuf- fle of school calendars, I saw the advertisement for Special Olympics volunteers. After a quick phone call to the PEI Special Olympics, I met a group of individuals who were just as keen on basketball as I am. What surprised me the most when I first turned up was the friendliness of the

whole group. I was instantly accepted with smiles, pats on the back and lots of hight fives.

The programme is es- sentially designed as a social activity and as an opportunity for athletes to practice their chosen sport and to encourage exercise. The athletes are of varied skill levels, but itis amaz- ing to seethe accomplishments they achieve in so little time. At the start of coaching, Yuri Marat could not dribble a bas- ketball. He developed to drib- bling with two hands, and now to one. One of the main rea- sons for the improvement is punt but also the support

e receives from the rest of the team.

Stephanie (Knickle) Currie is the main instructor for the group. She has been involved with Special Olym- pics for five years. Stephanie outlines her job as to “teach the basic rules of basketball and to help improve individual

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skills.” She mentions as well that sometimes it is hard to coach the athletes because of the different learning abilities, Some team members listen to instruction while others do not, and it sometimes creates diffi- cult situations. Stephanie men- tions as well that “most of the time we have a blast.” Other volunteers are Joanne MacNevin, Toby Hansberger, who are rookie basketball in- structors like myself. Joanne and Toby mentioned the same reasons as to why they help out: “it’s a lot of fun.”

Chris, Joanne, Yuri, Greg, Travis, Randy, Alfred, Steve, Wallace, and Erin are some of the regulars that at- tend basketball every Monday (I hope I haven’t missed any names). If you are interested in assisting athletes like these for Special Olympics basket- ball or any other sport, why not volunteer? The PEI Special Olympics offie contact number is 368-4543.

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Wild and crazy debating times

Debating fireworks exploded in the Main Building on February 28 as the 2nd Annual Lucy Maud Montgomery Debating Tournament commenced. Over the course of the next two days, teams from the Maritimes and Upper Canada engaged in an intense struggle in order to have their names permanently engraved on the Lucy Maud Montgomery Cup (second in importance to that other Cup associated with some guy named Stanley).

Some of the finest debaters in Canada participated in the tournament in what promises to be a fitting warmup to the National Championships which take place at Dalhousie Univer- sity from March 14-16.

The climax to the tournament took place in the Memorial Hall of the Confederation Centre of Sunday afternoon. Pomp and ceremony and miniature horses were the order of the day as ateam from Carleton University engaged in a titanic struggle with two premier Canadian debaters, Sudanna MacDonald from Dalhousie and W. Scott Thurlow from Carleton. The hybrid team of Ms. MacDonald and Mr. Thurlow emerged triumphant at the conclusion of this competition.

Michael Peters from Carleton carried away the awards for top individual debater and best public speaker. The Carleton performance at this tournament suggests that they will be a force to be reckoned with this weekend at the Nationals.

UPEI did not come away empty handed. The team of Chris Bentley and Shaun MacNeill finished the tournament with a respectable 3-3 record. Shaun MacNeill, in fact, placed fourth in individual debating points, a laudable accomplishment given the extremely high level of competition that participated in the event. ;

All of the participants, from far and away, praised the organizers of the tournament for putting on a major league show. This augurs well for the future of what is rapidly becoming the foremost debating tournament in Atlantic Canada. See you all next year.