Five members of the 20- member Mariposa Special Olympics team joined guest speaker Sarah Brewster at the Rotary meeting last week. Special Olympics athletes enjoy a year-round training and competition program that serves participants ranging in age from 15 to 60.

Mariposa Special Olympics is part of a regional, statewide, national and worldwide program comprising two million athletes. There are 13,000 athletes in northern California alone. Coaches work with the athletes for about eight weeks of practice before an event. Since coaching is often a oneto one arrangement, the program needs about as many coaches as athletes.

Special Olympics is designed to help each participant be a winner. Competitions are divided into five member teams with gold, silver, bronze and two ribbon winners. Brewster noted that the athletes are awesome, hardworking and enthusiastic. Team members who joined her seconded that statement.

During the winter games they hold a track meet in Mariposa then travel to the regional games in Merced. Later, teams will travel to UC Davis where there will be an opening ceremony with a torch that has traveled from Monterey. Team members always look forward to the Saturday night dinner and dance as much as the daytime competitions.

Mariposa community members are invited to learn more, even to come out to the track to cheer on the competitors. Information on the northern California organization is available at http://sonc.org. Call David Wise at Natural Environments, 742-7004 to make the connection to volunteer.