Golf Registration Remains Open

Registration for our Golf program this summer (Skills and Levels 2-5) is still open. The deadlines to register for Levels 2-5 is June 18th and for Skills is June 25th. (There is currently a waitlist for Skills.) CLICK HERE to register.

Join Us at the Yard - Let's Go O's!!

Join us for Special Olympics Howard County day at Camden Yards on Saturday, July 13th at 4:05, when the Orioles will play the Yankees. Tickets are first come, first served so don't wait to purchase your ticket(s); cost is $36 each. (Section 79 Rows 5 -10) To order your tickets, contact the office at 410-740-0500. Payment must be received by June 15. (Checks made out to Special Olympics Howard County or pay over the phone via credit card.) Note that parking is not included and chaperones are not provided. (Individuals who raised $1,500 for the Inspiration Walk by May 25th have been notified that they are eligible for two tickets.)

Howard County Law Enforcement Torch Run

On May 31st, five Howard County athletes got deputized by our Howard County Law Enforcement community before the start of the Torch Run at Western Regional Park.

Ory Docal - Howard County Police Department

Kimberly Holfelder - Howard County Sheriff's Office

Nick Leith - State's Attorney's Office

Marcus Lesho - Howard County Department of Corrections

Jennifer Wright - Maryland State Police

Additional photos of the event can be found here.

Spring Sports Round Up

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Bocce

For the last 3 years, SOHO has competed in back-to-back Bocce Qualifiers with Montgomery County here in Howard County and then in Montgomery County.

This year, the SOHO Qualifier was on Saturday, May 18th and the SOMO Qualifier was on Sunday, May 19th. Forty-four Athletes and Unified Partners competed at Cedar Lane Park. Even playing in the rain, everyone seemed to enjoy playing together. Thankfully on Sunday in Montgomery County, it was a much nicer day for the 200 athletes that were competing. Our Athletes and Unified Players always enjoy competing in Montgomery County. Now on to the SOMD Summer Games in Towson!!!

Cheerleading/Dance

The SOHO Cheerleading/Dance teams participated in the SOMD State Cheerleading Qualifier at Urbana High School. SOHO had a total of 44 athletes competing in two Hip Hop teams (Diamond Hawks and Royal Hawks) one Poms team (Pearl Hawks), and one Cheer team (Cheer Hawks). Everyone did a great job and had a lot of fun participating and cheering on other Counties' teams. The athletes are working hard on perfecting their routines and looking forward to the Summer Games at Towson University. To see more photos from the event, click here.

Softball - Mother Nature was not kind to us again and two softball qualifiers were rained out. Our annual Special Olympics Softball Invitational, this year scheduled for May 19th, had to be cancelled due to torrential rain the day before which made the fields unplayable. Special thanks to Zach Decker, our Softball Invitational Coordinator, who worked so hard to have another memorable event, and to the folks at HCYP who are always our best partners in preparing fields and help run the event.

A smaller softball competition was scheduled for May 5th but again, Mother Nature caused it to be cancelled. Finally on May 26th, thirty-six athletes from Harford and Howard Counties played two games, showcasing their exceptional skills and impressive teamwork. Harford County defeated the two Howard County teams (Silvea and Warren) in the first two games and then SOHO Team Silvea defeated SOHO Team Warren in the third game. Softball Coordinator Felicia McLarin described their hard work and dedication as truly remarkable.

Photos from the competition can be found here.

Swimming

SOHO hosted a swim meet at Stevens Forest Swimming Pool on June 2nd. Participating in the event were 43 SOHO athletes as well as 55 athletes from Montgomery County, 1 athlete from Carroll County and 5 athletes from Prince George's County. Swim Coordinator Dave Donovan reported that there were lots of swims and sportsmanship to be proud of. Many thanks to the Columbia Association and Columbia Clippers' parents and swimmers who have been incredibly supportive of the SOHO program out front and behind the scenes. Thanks to Casey and Brian Otten for leading the effort and to all our coaches and volunteers and to Head Coach Ann Scholz for leading the team effort on the deck. Special thanks to Jackie Miller for covering the medical table and Mimi Goodman for taking great photos during the event.

Earlier in the season, our swimmers also participated in qualifiers at Loyola University, Ridge Academy in Montgomery County. and PG County. Forty Eight SOHO swimmers will be competing at Summer Games in Towson this month along with 4 Unified Partners.

Additional photos from this event will be posted here by the end of the week.

Track and Field

For the first time since 2019, SOHO returned to Wilde Lake High School to host the last "mega meet" of this year's track season, hosting seven counties and 150 athletes. The competition was intense from the lengthy long distance events, the shorter sprints, and three different types of relays! The competition was a great success.

Such an event could not have happened without help from a number of people - thanks to Dr. Brandon Lauer, Athletic Director at Wilde Lake High School, for recruiting an awesome group of volunteers from both Wilde Lake and River Hill High Schools. Thanks also to Matt Aubin, Brian Henderson, and Kristina Dronenburg, teachers and coaches from WLHS, who helped out all during the meet both on and off the track. Thank you to Mariane Otto-Smith who provided medical coverage. A huge thank you to Mike Czarnowski from SOMD for his support, presence, and for filling in as the starter for us - and making one of our coaches a future starter!

Finally, thanks to Track and Field Coordinator Lavonne Smith, Head Coach Shirley Duhaney, Assistant Coaches Debbie and Teresa Docal, Long Distances coaches John and Ann Worley and Adam Yoe for their unwavering support of our Track and Field program.

Additional photos from this event will be posted here by the end of the week.

A very special THANK YOU to two individuals below who have provided us with incredible photos of so many of our athletes and events.

Executive Committee member, Mimi Goodman, has been taking photographs at many of our competitions as well as our fundraising events (IW and OTE) for many years. Not only is this a huge commitment in time (e.g. distant events such as the cheerleading competition in Urbana, all day events such as Over the Edge and annual softball tournament, and full weekend events such as this year's track event and swim meet) but it takes hours to download and review photos to chose the best to be posted. Mimi also creates concatenated photos for the newsletter.

Walter Larrimore has been creating a fun time for all the participants at the annual Inspiration Walk with his photo booth, bringing props to make individual, friends and family photos part of the festivities. In addition, Walter does the step and repeat photos at the Over the Edge event capturing the rappelers' joy at being back on the ground! And like Mimi, he spends time reviewing the photos before posting them on our SmugMug site.

We can't thank these two volunteers enough for sharing their talent and commitment in time to give us lasting memories.