The Columbia County Mustangs went all out at Special Olympics Oregon Basketball Regionals last month, with individual athletes taking honors and the 3-v-3 team winning a gold medal and sportsmanship award.
Columbia County’s Special Olympics team ended the season on a high note when competing in the regional basketball competition in Hillsboro on March 17. Local Program Coordinators Samantha Mollenhour and Heather Viereck accompanied the team to the big weekend, where they competed with five other teams.
Viereck talked about the team’s great weekend in an interview with the Chronicle & Chief.
“It was our basketball season. We had a 3-on-3 team and individual skills team, and they all did really well. Our 3-on-3 team practiced for about eight weeks,” Viereck said. “They took the gold, and they also took the sportsmanship award, which was really exciting for them.”
Viereck said there were six athletes on the 3-on-3 team and three players competing in the individual skill challenge. The 3-on-3 team is made up of Jeff Burns, Jordan Lindahl, Mitch Frappier, Jeremy Malone, John Dickson, and Jeremiah MacDougal. Columbia County Special Olympics individual skills contestants were Kayla Sundin and Vincent Blue, who received gold and silver in their respective competitions.
Viereck said that seeing the team get their gold medals was one of the highlights of the season but that winning the sportsmanship award was truly special.
“The sportsmanship is really a big deal to them, because it goes by the volunteers along the day voting on the different teams and how they interact with the other teams, the volunteers, and the coaches,” Viereck said. “So that’s really important to them.”
The regional tournament was the final event of the basketball season, but a gold medal is a pretty sweet way to top off a season.
Spring sports starting soon
Viereck said the next sport they will be starting up is bocce ball, and hopefully softball if they can get enough interest.
Viereck said she hopes that the program will see more participation, and that it has been slow to draw numbers back after the pandemic.
“We are slowly getting back our number of participants; Covid kind of wiped us out for a while,” Viereck said. “It’s been slow getting back to people being aware that we are holding sports and seasons and stuff.”
Viereck wanted to ensure people know about the organizations Facebook page, where people can find information on what activities are going on, and how to get involved. She said there is also a problem getting coaches to provide more opportunities.
“Unfortunately, there’s just some sports that we can’t offer because we don’t have the numbers, but the larger we grow, the better opportunities can come,” Viereck said. “We’re always looking for coaches, volunteers, and participants.”
Athletes who are interested may be able to find opportunities or sports that aren’t available in other areas, but sometimes the commute is an issue.
If people want more information, have questions, know an individual who would like to participate, or are interested in coaching, the Columbia County Special Olympics Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/SOORColumbiaCounty.
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