IWU to Host Special Olympics Indiana Fall Classic

Indiana Wesleyan University will host the 2009 Special Olympics Indiana Fall Classic event, beginning at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, October 17. Nearly 1,000 Special Olympics athletes from throughout Indiana will participate in state-level competition in aquatics, distance run/walk, flag football, power lifting and volleyball. 

This is the first year that IWU will host the event, which has been held at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana, for the past seven years. Besides the athletes, another 1,000 parents and coaches are expected to attend the Fall Classic.

Several hundred IWU students will work as volunteers.

“Indiana Wesleyan University is honored and excited to be the site for the Special Olympics Indiana Fall Classic,” said Mark DeMichael, IWU athletic director.  “Special Olympics is an outstanding organization whose mission is consistent with the Servant Leadership principles that our University emphasizes to our students.

“We look forward to all of the athletes and their families having a memorable day here on our campus and also look forward to the opportunities that our students and staff will have as part of this incredible event,” DeMichael said.

In addition to the new location, this is the first year that lower ability events in aquatics will be offered for Special Olympics athletes that do not have the physical capabilities to compete in traditional aquatics events.

Lower ability events include flotation device races, in which athletes use a life jacket; assisted swim races, in which an assistant helps guide or direct the athlete, but does not assist or support forward movement; and kickboard races, which are for training purposes only and are non-competitive.

Relay races, which have been held at Fall Classic traditionally, will be moved to the Summer Games competition in June.

“Moving the Fall Classic event to Indiana Wesleyan gave us this great opportunity to do something specific for our lower ability aquatics athletes and host a swim meet that would be just for them,” said Dave Breen, director of sports management for Special Olympics Indiana.  “We’re looking forward to trying something a little different than what we’ve done in the past and a venue that might allow us to do some different events in the future as well.”

Competitors range in age from 8 to 80, and flag football and volleyball continue to be the most popular Fall Classic sports. In addition, this year’s event will feature a record number of participants in distance run/walk, with 90 Special Olympics Indiana athletes and Unified Partners participating. 

In any form of Special Olympics competition, a team member with an intellectual disability is known as a Special Olympics athlete.  In Unified Sports, a team member who does not have an intellectual disability is known as a Unified Sports Partner.

Registration for all sports will begin at 7:45 a.m., with competition taking place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., depending on the specific sport. All events are open to the public.  

The 2009 Fall Classic will also feature the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® program, in which athletes will have the opportunity to receive free dental and hearing screenings.  The event will also feature the Health Promotion discipline of Health Athletes, which seeks to improve long-term health outcomes for Special Olympics athletes by giving them the information and encouragement they need to sustain physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices.