GARDEN GROVE : 300 Disabled Youths Vie in Volleyball

About 300 disabled young people competed in the Orange County Special Olympics Volleyball Tournament in Garden Grove on Friday, one of the largest sporting events of the year for special education students.

The students, ranging from 10 to 22 years of age with varying mental and physical disabilities, had an incentive to perform well: The top competitors were vying for spots on next year’s statewide Special Olympic volleyball team.

For most, though, the day offered a chance to escape homes and classrooms and enjoy an organized activity with other students, according to Kelly McCowin, a teacher of adaptive physical education at Jordan Secondary Learning Center, the event’s host school.

“The kids love it,” McCowin said. “They love to play and have fun. This is really a case of not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.”

McCowin coaches all his school’s Special Olympics sports, which include floor hockey, softball and track and field events. But he believes volleyball seems especially suitable for large numbers of special athletes.

Gayle Santiago, a special education teacher at Jordan and the tournament director, agreed that volleyball “is one sport that everyone can play.”

She has even modified the rules to make it so. According to Santiago’s changes, some players, depending on their team’s classifications, can catch the ball and throw it over the net. Others can let it bounce once. Some can move closer to the net to serve.

Youngsters unable to knock the ball over the net can hold it high in their hands and a special student assistant will tap it for them.

Or, if a player has use of just one hand, a special assistant will hold the ball for the player to hit. In some games the net is lowered to waist level.

“I’ve modified and modified so that everyone can play,” Santiago said. “It would be a shame for the kids to come and not to be able to play.”

Santiago believes the more lenient rules have spurred the event’s growth.

Only two teams participated in the volleyball event when Santiago started as tournament director 20 years ago. The turnout climbed to more than 20 teams Friday, as schools from Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Mission Viejo, Santa Ana and Garden Grove all competed.

Ramiro Lopez, 16, a player for the Jordan Secondary Learning Center, said he’s been looking forward to the tournament for several days and has been sharpening his volleyball skills by practicing almost every other day.

Volleyball is one of his favorite sports but he’s also “into floor hockey and softball,” he said. He recently competed in a special education roller skating event in Berkeley and last year went on a skiing trip to Lake Tahoe, he said.

Ingram Micro, a microcomputer distributor in Santa Ana, sponsored the event for the fifth year and provided prizes and other mementos. Guckenheimer Enterprises Inc., which operates Ingram’s in-house restaurant, provided hot dogs and sandwiches and soft drinks.