Special Olympics and my visual impairment
About 10 years ago, I set up a Special Olympics group called Elm Eagles. This is a group for golf enthusiasts with a disability. Prior to this, there were no other groups of this type available within North Dublin. It started off slowly but grew over time. We began each Saturday in Hollystown golf club. We’d meet and play a few holes together, it was great practice for keeping my golf game sharp and a good way of making friends.
We stayed here for about a year but weren’t always guaranteed availability so we moved to Elmgreen golf club. This means that now we get to play more holes than before and spend more time on the golf course. Shortly after our move to Elmgreen, we started to get more people on board through the advertising work of Special Olympics Ireland within the local community. This gave me the opportunity to learn much more about different disabilities.
The Special Olympics cycle for golf is a 4 year cycle with one competition each year. The first games are carried out within the local community. After this, it becomes Regional and players compete against all the clubs in Leinster. I won this competition and received a gold medal. During my time in Special Olympics, I won another gold medal at a Regional competition. In 2014, I returned from the All Ireland Games with a Bronze Medal. This was held in Limerick for 3 days at Ballykillstein golf club. The players here were of a very high standard but I did well to come third. The last phase of the cycle is the World Games, players from all over the world compete against each other, unfortunately I just missed out on a place here. Who knows maybe someday?
Elm Eagles are still going strong every Saturday, I don’t make it each week but still love to go when I can. This was a good way of keeping fit and did a lot for my mental health when I was younger. Special Olympics are inclusive of those with different disabilities, it’s good they’re open to all as some groups unfortunately don’t take the same approach. Special Olympics Ireland is a good place to start if you have a disability and you’re looking to get more involved in sport.