Staged under fluorescent lights, an orderly arrangement of turf courts hosts their competition: Special Olympics USA Games bocce athletes and Unified partners, athletes without intellectual disabilities. The courts are identical in nature, with their regulation ball sets, a measuring device, scoreboard and pallino, the target ball players aim to throw closest to in order to score. Only when the athletes enter its confines, does the court begin to change shape, each containing a story of unwavering focus, of overcoming.
Special Olympics Texas athlete Emileigh Marsh is transformative in every space and in every sense of the word.
“She was born with cerebral palsy,” said her father, Bobby Marsh. “She was born a preemie and was 2 pounds, 7 ounces at birth. She had struggles from the very beginning and she’s always been involved in Special Olympics, even before she was in a wheelchair.”
In the past year, Emileigh became wheelchair-bound as the result of a years-old spinal cord injury from horseback riding. From walking independently, to barely walking, she would face recurring seizures and left leg paralysis, the latest chapter in her lifelong struggle with serious health complications. Under the attentive care of Shriners Children’s in Galveston, Texas, Emileigh persevered relentlessly through hours, days and weeks of outpatient and occupational therapy.
Navigating various methods of treatment, her doctors and therapists were creative in their approach, with Emileigh fearless in her attempt to prove the odds wrong. In the face of uncertainty, she continued to channel her strength in familiar ways, through sport. Set to compete in the 2025 Special Olympics Texas’ Area 4 Track & Field Competition, Emileigh experienced a seizure moments before her turn in the mini-javelin throw. Following a safe recovery, she returned to the field, earning a fourth-place ribbon. While no award could truly measure this scale of resilience, she would soon receive the Most Inspirational Athlete Award at the 2025 Special Olympics Texas Summer Games. She was also honored with the 2025 Cypress Champions Delegation "Josh Award" for outstanding sportsmanship, spirit and dedication to her team and fellow athletes.
Her sights still set on learning to walk again, Emileigh spent the remainder of the year undergoing tests, pushing through rehabilitation and adapting to sports in a wheelchair. She would do far more than adapt. Emileigh would qualify as a Special Olympics Texas bocce athlete in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, hosted 20 – 26 June in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“It’s my first time ever coming, especially because I just became wheelchair-bound last year, and so I’ve had to learn how to play most of my sports in a wheelchair now,” said Emileigh. “So, it’s very exciting coming this far and being able to do this.”
Considering all she has endured, “exciting” is a remarkable description, and a perfect reflection of her outlook.
“It was definitely a slow progression,” Emileigh continued. “Over the past three years, I’ve slowly declined, now being paralyzed completely on the left leg, being wheelchair-bound. So, just learning all the sports that I do, but instead of doing them the regular way, doing them in a wheelchair, it’s been inspiring.”
Kelly Marsh, Emileigh’s mother, has been by her side, cheering through the appointments and milestones, being a source of strength through the adversity. In the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, Kelly joined Emileigh as her Unified partner, sharing in their fifth-place ribbon in Unified Female Doubles and silver medal in Unified Team competition. On the court, Kelly follows Emileigh’s lead, learning which techniques best complement her daughter’s needs. No stranger to the passenger seat, Kelly owns and operates Drive2u Driving School in Houston, Texas, and channels her own experience to serve students with disabilities.
“From a parent perspective, being able to see someone walk and play these Games and be excited and participate, then go to being wheelchair-bound, it’s been an adjustment for her to learn how to strategize and put all the pieces together in a different avenue of moving the body, moving the arm, moving the chair to mimic what these guys are doing out here … It’s been a struggle in some areas,” said Kelly. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, but we’ve done it, and we’re here, and she’s earned it and I’m proud of her.”
Following the morning rounds of competition on 26 June at the Special Olympics USA Games, Emileigh experienced a seizure and required emergency rescue medication. At this stage, Special Olympics Texas had advanced to the gold medal round. During the break in competition, Emileigh suffered a second seizure. Before the next round of competition began, Emileigh took sufficient time to rest and recover, ensuring her body was ready for the final match. She returned to the court for Unified Team competition, helping secure Texas’ silver medal win.
“She never gives up and always tries to find ways to overcome anything,” added Bobby. “As a dad, what’s it like to watch her compete out there? Oh, I love it.”
Continuously striving to improve her physical and mental condition, Emileigh keeps her proverbial pallino in her line of vision, adjusting her aim and strategy along the way. Rooted in a love for the game, her own competitiveness and will to defy odds, she is sure to score.
