CCS Unlimited - Cabinteely Community School

SPECIAL OLYMPICSI r e l a n dI am a member of theSpecial Olympics Ireland,taking part in Basketballand Golf. My main sport isbasketball which I like verymuch and we train twice a weekand are part of a league in theSpecial Olympics.One of the training days is onSaturday and so is the golf so Idon’t get much of a lie in at theweekend, but I don’t mind as Ienjoy it!In February 2006 I waspromoted to the men’sbasketball team which waspreparing for the Nationalgames which meant extratraining sessions and variousworkoutsThe Games were held in June inBelfast and there were over twothousand athletes for varioussports taking part.I was very excited about goingup to Belfast as were my parentsand all the players from our club(The Blackrock Flyers)We were part of the EasternRegion as Leinster was dividedup into different regions beingso big.Special Olympic Athletes fromall over Ireland descended onBelfast, and we had a wonderfulgrand opening at the OdysseyArena.We opened our campaign bytaking on various teams from30 CCSUnlimitedUlster, Connaught and the restof Leinster, ending up in thefinal with Munster.Both teams were well matchedand very little was given oneither side. Every time wescored they would come backand level the game and thiswent on for the full match untilwe wavered at the end andMunster beat us by one point.It was so close and we wereall disappointed and sad. Ourparents were more upset thanwe were, I think!The Final ScoreEastern Region 21Munster 22All in all it was a greatexperience and I came homewith a Silver Medal whichtakes pride of place on ourmantelpiece.My class mate and friendCillian was also at the games.He took part in the GymnasticsEvents winning lots of medals.We were staying at the sameHotel in Belfast but only met atbreakfast as we were competingin Antrim and Cillian was basedat Belfast.Our Special Olympics Oath is“Let me win.But if I cannot win,Let me be BraveIn the Attempt”.A good time was had by all!Tomas MurphyAfter the Leinster Games in June 2005 I received a lettertelling me that I had been chosen to represent the EasternRegion in Gymnastics at the Special Olympics National Gamesin Belfast in June 2006. There were eleven athletes chosenfrom my club, Tivoli Tigers for the games.We all trained very hard and planned for our trip to Belfast. Atlast the 21 st June came and we met at the train station to travelon the special train. Our coaches and chaperones travelled withus and we stayed in Jury’s Hotel in Belfast. I shared a roomwith Cian.We were very excited about the opening ceremony in theOdyssey Arena and received a huge welcome from the crowd.We were entertained by Brian Kennedy and Liberty X.The following day we started the competitions. I competed inall six disciplines in gymnastics and was very lucky to receiveseven medals as there was an overall medal for those who hadcompeted in all six. I got four gold, two silver and a bronzemedal. There was great support from the crowd and many ofmy family and relations came along to cheer me on – some ofmy cousins were lucky enough to get the afternoon off school!I really enjoyed taking part in the Special Olympics NationalGames. The next step is the Special Olympics World Games inChina but unfortunately I was not selected to travel to China. Iwish all the Irish athletes good luck in China in October 2007.Cillian Boushel5C1CCSUNLIMITED2008.indd 30 13/06/2008 10:50:04