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As the athletes from around the world are competing at the Cortina Milano Winter Olympics in Italy, 250 athletes from across Pennsylvania competed at the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania (SOPA) at Seven Springs Mountain Resort on February 10 through 12. Athletes competed in alpine skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing at race courses spread across the slopes at Seven Springs. Unlike the Summer and Winter Games, which happen every four years, the SOPA happens every year. It takes hundreds of volunteers, fundraisers, and partnerships to make an event like SOPA happen every February.
Special Olympics Pennsylvania focuses on athletes with intellectual disabilities, emphasizing that they want the same opportunities as everyone else (friends, jobs, independence) without social barriers. The organization helps remove obstacles to let athletes thrive. SOPA is all about the athletes and their remarkable resilience under challenging conditions. One remarkable fact about the athletes with intellectual disabilities is that they want to seek normalcy, inclusion, and the same opportunities as anyone else. They are not looking for “special” treatment or lowered expectations from people.
“I think the most powerful thing I’ve learned is that Special Olympics athletes don’t want to be special. They’re just like everybody else. They want friends, social experiences, jobs, independence, to compete, to drive, and everything that anybody else wants,” Matt Aaron, President and CEO of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, said in an interview with SnowBrains.
Aaron has been with SOPA since 2008 and has been the CEO and President for 17 years, and started at the headquarters in Washington, D.C. He spent three years at the Special Olympics headquarters before moving to Pennsylvania and running SOPA. Some people may believe that people with intellectual disabilities cannot do things like go to college or live a “normal” life. Breaking down the social barriers for these athletes is difficult, and Aaron believes some of that blame comes from us. “Too many times, I think, we become the obstacle for this,” Arron said. “We tell them, you have a disability, you can’t try this, or there’s no way you can go to college… when we stop putting the obstacles up in front of them and just let them be themselves, then they do amazing things.”
The atmosphere, vibe, and feeling at Special Olympics Pennsylvania were incredible. Every athlete, volunteer, and family member was filled with optimism and happiness. It was difficult to find anyone who was at the three-day event who wasn’t smiling or laughing. The Opening Ceremony on Tuesday night kicked off the games, and it captured the essence and the heart of Special Olympics Pennsylvania. It started off with the Knights of Columbus leading the procession of athletes, coaches, volunteers, and marching band to the base area of Seven Springs, which has hosted the games since 2015. The parade went under a fire engine ladder with the American Flag being flown under it. There was a very powerful energy and feeling that emanated from the athletes and everyone in the procession as they were walking, cheering, and smiling as they made it down to the base area of the ski resort. That day, the temperatures were in the 50s, which made the parade and opening ceremonies enjoyable to watch. However, cold temperatures that pushed in that night made it very challenging for the athletes to compete the next day.
The events at the games began on Wednesday and consisted of a slalom, giant slalom, and snowshoe races. Even though the conditions were slick that day, it didn’t bother the athletes. They spend 8 to 12 weeks training with coaches to prepare for the challenges of competing at Special Olympics Pennsylvania. These athletes are resilient, and a little icy conditions weren’t going to stop them from enjoying the competition. “Our athletes are some of the most joyful people that you’ll ever be around,” Aaron said.
The competitions at the Special Olympics Pennsylvania are based on age and skill level to ensure all athletes compete against athletes of similar ability. For Special Olympics Pennsylvania, this divisioning is important not only for all our competition events but also affects how our athletes qualify for national and international opportunities. Every athlete who wins a gold medal in their division for a sport for which we have received an allocation to a national or international competition gets put into a pool, and a random draw selects who will represent Pennsylvania at that opportunity. This ensures that athletes of all ability levels have the chance to compete at the highest level.
The rules are strict, and just like Aaron mentioned previously, the athletes want to be treated just like everyone else. That means if an athlete misses a gate and gets disqualified, then that is what happens. They are given a second chance to do it over again. Some people may think that this isn’t fair, but again, it is important to remember that these athletes with intellectual disabilities don’t want to be treated specially. They wanted to be treated the same.
The athletes might be the ones facing obstacles on the mountain, but there are other challenges when organizing and putting together an event this size. Including the Special Olympics Pennsylvania at Seven Springs, SOPA operates year-round with over 20 sports across four seasons, serving about 10,000 active athletes. It includes programs in nearly 600 schools and over 1,000 competitions annually. That requires a lot of fundraising, coaches, volunteers, and partnerships.
One of the main challenges includes recruiting more coaches to expand athlete participation. Volunteers, especially coaches, are crucial; the organization is volunteer-driven with thousands involved. Coaches build relationships and train athletes for 8-12 weeks per season. No prior experience or credentials are required, and training and background checks are provided. Attracting more coaches to volunteer in the future is something that Aaron is trying to improve. Currently, SOPA estimates it is serving less than 4% of the people in Pennsylvania with intellectual disabilities. Getting more people involved in the program requires more coaches to train the athletes. “Our biggest need is coaches, and we’re looking to grow over the next few years and add more athletes,” Aaron said.
Raising $15 million annually to keep programs free is also a challenge for the organization. One of the neat things about Special Olympics Pennsylvania is that the athletes don’t pay anything to participate. “It doesn’t matter what their socioeconomic background is; they participate for free, coming up here, and spending three days in Seven Springs, and winter sports can be expensive with all the equipment,” Aaron said. “Our athletes do that completely free of charge.”
Through the support of Vail Resorts’ Epic Promise Foundation, Seven Springs provides free lift tickets, passes, and equipment that help more than 250 Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding athletes train at Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Roundtop each season. This year alone, its team contributed more than $94,000 in products and services to athletes across the state. “Seven Springs is honored to have hosted the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Winter Games for more than a decade, and our partnership continues to be one of the most meaningful traditions for our resort team,” Brett Cook, Vice President and General Manager, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel Mountain, said to SnowBrains in an interview.
One of the biggest fundraisers for SOPA is the Polar Plunge, which will be held from February 20 through 28. There will be a total of seven plunges around the states. All funds raised by Plungers help Special Olympics provide year-round training and services to thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities across the state. “The Winter Games and the Polar Plunge reflect what matters most to us as a company—living our core value to be inclusive,” Cook said. The Pittsburgh Polar Plunge, which is on Saturday, February 28, raises more than a million dollars a year, and the biggest component of that is law enforcement.
Fundraisers, coaches, and volunteers all make the games possible for all the athletes, like James Pilicicci, who competed in three snowshoeing events at Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Pilicicci won two gold medals and a silver in snowshoeing and said his favorite part of the games is meeting new friends.
Another athlete from Special Olympics Pennsylvania was Gabriel Davis, who was competing in his first Winter Games but had been with the program for 11 years. Davis won four medals in the snowshoeing event, two gold, one silver, and one bronze. To Davis, it’s all about just having fun at Special Olympics Pennsylvania, where it doesn’t matter if an athlete is tall or small, or has (intellectual) disabilities; what matters is that everyone gets a chance to compete. “My favorite part is seeing the athletes being happy, seeing the volunteers, helping out the athletes, and especially just seeing Special Olympics Pennsylvania, just being united,” Davis said.
There is a strong bond and relationship between Special Olympics Pennsylvania and the athletes with law enforcement that might not be well known. It is called the Law Enforcement Torch Run, which is a global initiative and the largest grassroots fundraising and awareness campaign supporting Special Olympics, which provides year-round sports training and competitions for people with intellectual disabilities. This relationship began in Kansas in 1981 when the Wichita Police Chief, Richard LaMunyon, created the Torch Run to engage law enforcement officers in community service, raise funds, and increase awareness for Special Olympics Kansas. Today, it has grown into an international movement present in all 50 U.S. states and over 40 countries. During the Opening Ceremony at Special Olympics Pennsylvania, law enforcement officers lined both sides of the parade as the athletes entered the main base area of Seven Springs. There were cheers and high fives given between the athletes and officers supporting one another. “One of the great things about the torch run is the relationship between the cops and the athletes,” Aaron said. “There are lots of personal relationships and connections between athletes and cops. They get to know each other and build connections. So it’s an amazing, amazing network of support that we have.” Although law enforcement does help out at the games, the LETR creates genuine support networks rather than just event logistics.
Looking ahead for Team Pennsylvania, the USA Games will be held in Minnesota from June 20 through 26. It brings together 4,000 athletes, 1,500 coaches, 10,000 volunteers, and 75,000 fans from all 50 states. Through the power of sports and inclusion, the Special Olympics USA Games sparks a change that transforms lives, communities, and the world. Team Pennsylvania will proudly be represented by 91 athletes and Unified partners and 25 coaches in 11 sports.
At its core, what makes Special Olympics Pennsylvania so extraordinary was said by its longtime CEO regarding Special Olympics athletes not wanting to be special, and they’re just like everybody else. The athletes are resilient, getting up from spectacular falls on icy slopes and heading right back out, ready to go again. They are among “the most joyful people you’ll ever be around,” bringing smiles, hugs, and genuine connection that leave volunteers saying, “Don’t thank me. I get more out of this than I put in.” And they compete under real rules, earning every finish line, because true respect means treating them as capable competitors, not as people who need exceptions. However, if you want to find out what Special Olympics Pennsylvania is all about, ask Snowshoe Athlete, Davis. “If anyone wants to see what Special Olympics Pennsylvania is all about, come see us play. These athletes, they’re not just athletes. They are leaders, they are the definition of joy, and they are what we call an inclusion revolution,” Davis said.
