YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – The long-standing partnership between York Special Olympics and York College will continue with the 42nd annual Spring Games on Saturday, May 4.

“For our athletes, they love to compete, and they love winning medals,” said Special Olympics York (SOY) outreach coordinator Rebecca Rinehart. “The competition is with fellow York athlete, who they adore. These are strong friendships that they’ve developed, like lifelong friendships that they have developed.”

About 100 York Special Olympics athletes will compete in the games, with the youngest being eight years old and the average being mid-30s. They will compete for medals in track and field, swimming and tennis. There will be some adapted competitions, including wheelchair racing and swimming with floatation devices.

“We try to be accommodating to all types of levels and capabilities,” Rinehart said.

There will be about 200 York College athletes helping out with the event from serving as buddies for the athletes to assisting with set-up to running the Olympic Village, which is filled with games for the Special Olympic athletes to play in between competitions.

12 of York College’s basketball players, six men and six women, will be running a basketball clinic for the Special Olympics athletes too.

“(Our athletes) never cease to amaze me, just the energy and enthusiasm they put into it,” said the Associate Athletic Director of York College Matt Day. “There’s just some pure joy that our athletes get, the Special Olympics athletes get.”

Day says that interaction between the buddies is a joy to watch. By the end of the day, he says many of the Special Olympic and York College athletes are like best friends even though they just met.

“They’re hugging each other, they’re cheering and high fives and all of that,” Day said.

The Special Olympic athletes have been training in their respective sports for about 14 weeks. They practice once a week for about an hour and half to prepare. The swimmers have been able to practice at the York College pool thanks to this collaboration.

The event starts at 9 a.m. at Graham Field with opening ceremonies run by the Master of Ceremonies, who is a Special Olympic athlete. The ceremony will include a torch relay, music from the Emigsville Band, the parade of athletes, the restoration of oaths, the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by an athlete who has done it for over 30 years and more.

Members of the community such as the William Penn High School JROTC and the York Law Enforcement will also assist in the opening ceremony.

The games will begin at 10 a.m.

Spectators are encouraged to attend the free event and cheer on the athletes.

“(Spectators) will see them achieve maybe beyond their expectations in terms of athletic achievement,” Rinehart said. “It’ll give them a perspective how our athletes, how capable they are.”

Day said the York College athletes are able to learn a lot from participating in this event every year.

“Watching the hard work and determination that goes into these Special Olympic athlete as they participate in their games and give it 100% and have fun with it,” Day said. “I think there’s a lot of underlying lessons that can come from just watching and observing.”

This is the local culminating competition for the York County program, but some of York’s Special Olympic athletes have been able to reach higher levels of competition. One athlete, Loretta Claiborne who competes in about eight different sports with York Special Olympics, participate in tennis at the World Games in Berlin last summer.

In June, some of York’s Special Olympic athletes will be traveling to compete in State Games.

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“It (is) heartening . . .to see the friendships that develop and the diversity of our athletes,” Rinehart said. “Even within the intellectual disability community we have a great diversity and a great openness and how these differences between the athletes don’t matter in terms of friendships and ability to have fun and to have joy.”

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