Special Olympics coming to area
Darleene Barrientos
Some 700 athletes will hit the fields of Glendale High School today
to compete in the Special Olympics Southern California Tri Valley
regional games.
“We’re going nuts, if you want to know the truth,” said Jan
Maseda, the Tri Valley’s regional director.
About 700 athletes ranging in age from 8 to 80 will compete in
basketball, tennis, bocce ball, aquatics and track and field-type
events. One hundred more children, 6 months to 7 1/2 years, will
compete in the event’s mini-meet.
Maseda’s own daughter, 20-year-old Theresa, will compete in bocce
ball, which Maseda compared to Italian lawn bowling. Maseda first
involved her daughter, who was born with hydrocephalus -- or water on
the brain -- 10 years ago.
“I got her into it for physical exercise, and for finding friends
the same as her,” Maseda said. “We ended up finding a family -- a lot
of family. We all kind of grew together. We raise our special kids
together.”
The Tri Valley family includes Kern County, the Antelope Valley,
Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena. Maseda said other areas like San
Diego, South Bay, southeast Los Angeles and Ventura will compete
today as well.
The chapter and the event have received a lot of support from both
private and civic groups, Maseda said. For the first time, the 1st
Marine Division from Camp Pendleton will provide a Color Guard for
the event, and a sergeant will sing the national anthem. The chapter
had previously worked with a group of Encino Marine reservists, who
are serving abroad this year.