‘It was the greatest experience ? it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.?
Those were the words Oxford resident Dolly Travis, 53, repeated over and over when asked to describe winning two medals with her daughter, Stacey, 29, in Ireland at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
The lifelong Oxford residents were two of ten Michigan athletes selected to attend the large worldwide event.
‘The director of (Lapeer) area 13, Jerry Daunt, called me up at work and pretended to be a radio station giving me a prize,? Dolly said with a smile. ‘All I thought was ‘I’m not going to Ireland with some radio station.??
The Special Olympics director finally explained that Dolly and Stacey had been selected to represent the U.S. in the Unified Bowling competition. Unified bowling pairs an individual with a disability and an individual without a disability for competition. Each bowls a typical scratch game and their scores are combined to determine the winners.
‘I was excited to go,? said Stacey. ‘The plane ride was okay. It was long.?
Stacey, who has been bowling since she was five or six, has been participating in the Special Olympics unified bowling competition for the past six years. Even before that, she participated in the Special Olympics regular bowling.
‘I also swim,? she added shyly. Dolly explained that Stacey has been competing in swimming at the State Games, held at Central Michigan University, for the past 12 years.
‘It’s fun,? said Stacey.
Around 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches competed in 21 different sports at the Special Olympics summer games. More than 28,000 family members and friends cheered on the competitors daily. For Dolly and Stacey, their biggest supporter was dad Steve, who came along to support his team from the sidelines.
Dolly and Stacey attended the competition with 82 other athletes to form the Great Lakes Area team. They were selected after winning gold medals at the state tournament, held at Western Michigan University, in 2002.
At the world competition, Dolly and Stacey won a bronze metal in the four-person team unified bowling and a silver medal for doubles unified bowling. In the team competition their scores were: Dolly – 145,151 and 126; Stacey – 112, 121 and 146; and Team – 1464. They won the silver medal by four pins with a combined score of 732.
‘When you go up there to receive your medal, it’s just breath taking,? said Dolly. ‘It was neat, it was really neat.?
Besides competing in the Special Olympics, the Travis family also got to tour Ireland. Organizers had activities planned for the participants every evening.
‘The country was gorgeous,? said Dolly. ‘It was just beautiful there.?
‘I liked the shopping the best,? said Stacey. At the games though, she said she enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies, especially the music from performers such as Bon Jovi.
Both Dolly and Stacey said they will continue participating in the unified bowling competitions locally. To train for their event, the two women said they enjoy participating in area leagues.
‘This trip was amazing, so many people said they were jealous of the opportunity,? said Dolly. ‘This really was a once in a life time opportunity.?
Special Olympics Michigan is a year round program of sports training and competition for individuals with mental retardation. More than 12,400 athletes in Michigan train and compete in 20 Olympic-type sports. The goal is to help people with mental retardation develop fitness, demonstrate courage and build self-confidence.