Articles from July 2017

Special Olympics Iowa is pleased to announce the 2018 Team Iowa members going to USA Games next year in Seattle! One year from now – July 1-6, 2018 – more than 4,000 Special Olympics athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will gather in Seattle to compete before tens of thousands of spectators and volunteers. The 2018 USA Games will showcase the limitless talents of people with intellectual disabilities while promoting the barrier-breaking power of sport to promote inclusion and acceptance. …

Special Olympics Iowa is happy to announce the newest addition to the SOIA staff. Mary Besler joined the Law Enforcement Torch Run team in July as the new LETR Event Coordinator. Besler will work closely with law enforcement volunteers to organize fundraising events for SOIA.

Originally from Iowa City, Besler attended Ellsworth Community College her first two years of school and played volleyball before transferring and graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in May 2016 with a degree in public relations. Before coming to SOIA, Besler worked for the Iowa City Downtown District doing events and marketing.

Besler is excited to get started in her new role at SOIA. “I’m excited to be working for Special Olympics because I have always admired this organization and what it does. I love planning events, so I am thrilled to be doing that for Special Olympics.”

Welcome to the team, Mary!

Come join Special Olympics Iowa at the 2017 Iowa State Fair!

On Friday, August 18, SOIA will be co-hosting the second annual Adaptive Sports on the Grand Concourse day with our friends from Adaptive Sports Iowa and Courage League Sports. The day will consist of games of power soccer, wheelchair basketball and bocce as well as equipment demonstrations and program overviews. It will be a day to show how sports can be adaptive for inclusion so everyone can participate. …