Every year, Carol Croll dreads that final moment of the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games.
Yes, the event is a fun weekend. Yes, it is the competitive highlight of the season. Yes, it is great to win medals and cheer on your teammates. So what's the downside?
"This ends our season," said Croll, the head coach of the Somerset Stingrays. "When the event ends, it's going to be sad. There will be a lot of hugs. We'll miss each other."
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One thing Croll can count on—one thing she has always counted on as a coach—is that when the season resumes in late November, Robert Previty will be there for practice.
"He's one of the original members of the team," Croll noted.
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Previty is 51. At the New Jersey Special Olympics Summer Games, held June 11-12 at The College of New Jersey, he competed in the 25 meter backstroke, 25 meter freestyle and was also part of a 4x25 freestyle relay team.
"People might not think that anyone will get better at that age, but that's just not true," Croll said.
"He went from being a one-lane swimmer to being able to do more. At 50
plus, it's a lifestyle thing. It has improved his health. He's made friends
here. He loves it here."
Picking up a medal for swimming was also pretty nice.
"Swimming is good," Previty said. "It keeps you good and healthy."
Previty was one of 2,300 athletes competing in the New Jersey Summer Games. While this marked the official end of the summer season, the fall season is fast approaching.
Special Olympics offers cycling, equestrian, flag football, golf, soccer and volleyball in the fall. The winter season features alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, speed skating, snowboarding and snowshoeing. In the spring, the available sports are basketball, bowling and motor activities training. The recently completed summer season included aquatics, tennis, bocce, sailing, powerlifting, softball, gymnastics and track and field.
"It just keeps growing," noted Lillian Narvaez, the vice president of sports for Special Olympics New Jersey. "When I first started 24 years ago, we had about five or six thousand athletes. Now, we have over 22,000 athletes. We have over 106 events. Back when I started, we had 20 events."
Robert Previty has been around for a lot of the growth. So has Carol Croll.
They have seen a lot of competition. They have made a lot of friends. And after
practicing with their teammates from November to June, their friends will be
missed.
"How proud of all of them?" Croll asked herself. "If you keep watching
me today and see my cry, you'll know proud I am. Nothing stops them. They give
less excuses than almost any adults I know. They just keep coming back. It's
amazing."
