With excitement in his voice, Collins Clingman talks about his lifelong passion for the Green Bay Packers and Iowa Hawkeye football. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native also says he’s a season ticket holder for the local community college’s basketball team. He loves to watch games with his brother-in-law, and for more than 25 years, he’s participated in athletics, softball and bowling for Special Olympics Iowa. There’s no denying it: Clingman is in his element whenever sports are involved.
For most of her youth, Emma Haug, a coach for Special Olympics Washington, played soccer and volleyball, but as she entered the hallways of high school, sports became secondary.
Throughout the country, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and Special Olympics work together to advance inclusion programs for students with intellectual disabilities.
A highly decorated Special Olympics coach, Annette Lynch has several favorite memories, but there is one in particular that stands out. Her Special Olympics Virginia Area 26 basketball team, the Dulles Cowboys, surprisingly qualified for the 1995 Special Olympics World Games in New Haven, Connecticut.