An athlete, his coach and his unified partner for bocce, all from Fulton, have been selected for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
Although he's a gold-medal winner in bocce, Joey Girard, a 47-year-old athlete with Down syndrome, is also a super bowler. He will represent Missouri as a bowler during the annual national games, which will take place June 5-12, 2022.
Jennifer Petersen, will join the team as a unified partner in bocce. Unified sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, according to specialolympics.org. It follows a simple principle - training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
"In unified sports, teams are made up of people of similar ages and ability," the website says. "That makes practices more fun, and games more challenging and exciting for all."
Petersen, who oversees equestrian studies at William Woods University, was Girard's bocce partner. They won gold in Missouri's games.
Aiden Petersen, Jennifer Petersen's son, will also represent Missouri at the USA Games, as a tennis coach. He is a sophomore on the Westminster College tennis team.
Girard has been involved in Special Olympics for 40 years, ever since he could begin competing - at 8 years old.
The next step for the athlete, unified partner and coach will be to raise money. Planning for fundraisers is underway, but not complete.
Athletes and unified partners are required to raise $3,000 to attend the games. Coaches have to raise $1,500.
Missouri will send 127 athletes, coaches, staff and unified partners to the USA Games.
Jefferson City is to be represented by athletes Abigail Bax, Derek Sandbothe, Grace Theroff and Andrew Hutinger, and coach Curt Yaeger. Nichole Birky, an athlete from Wardsville, and Fadaron Anderson, an athlete from Ashland, are also to participate.
The games will mark the largest humanitarian event in Florida history, according to a Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) news release. It will unite more than 5,000 athletes and coaches. More than 10,000 volunteers are necessary to put the games on.
Organizers estimate that 125,000 friends and family members of participants will attend the games.
More details are available on the USA Games website.