The 2019 Team Bliss Special Olympics Group. (Photo courtesy of the Fort Bliss Exceptional Family Member Program)
EFMP looking for coaches, athletes, volunteers for 2020 Special Olympics
Courtesy Fort Bliss Exceptional Family Member Program
The Exceptional Family Member Program is gearing up for another Special Olympics event and is looking for athletes, coaches and volunteers.
The Special Olympics Texas 2020 Area 19 Spring Games will mark the eighth year Team Bliss has competed. In previous years, Team Bliss has had an amazing group of coaches, athletes, and volunteers and they hope to continue that trend in 2020.
“Our goal is to provide an environment for inspiring athletes to pursue their physical fitness goals, as well as give them inspiration to never give up on their dreams,” said Dena Edmondson, Fort Bliss Exceptional Family Member Program coordinator. “Last year, all seven athletes who competed for Team Bliss received a gold medal in at least one event. They participated in numerous events, to include 50-meter to 400-meter runs, long jump, power and non-power wheelchair races, baton relay race, as well as shot put and javelin throws.”
In October, Army family member Andres Hernandez, a 25-year-old swimmer with Down syndrome, represented El Paso, Texas, in the 2019 International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games in Brisbane, Australia. Every four years, nearly 1,000 athletes from 48 countries compete in the INAS Global Games. Hernandez worked extremely hard to earn a spot representing El Paso in different events.
The opening ceremony for the Special Olympics Texas 2020 Area 19 Spring Games will be held at Burges High School in El Paso, April 17, 2020. The games begin April 18.
If you would like to be a part of the upcoming season, it will be comprised of 10 weeks of training, which will be conducted Saturday mornings, 9-10:30 a.m. at Stout Field, beginning Feb. 8, 2020.
If you would like to become a member of Team Bliss as a coach, athlete or volunteer, please contact EFMP at 915-569-4227, ext 5.