Nearly 500 athletes will compete in the Spring Games for Illinois Area 9’s 38th annual Special Olympics competition Friday at O’Brien Field.

Volunteer registration will begin at 8 a.m., opening ceremonies will be at 9 a.m., the athletic events will start at 10 a.m. and the festivities will conclude at about 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

Athletes with disabilities ages eight and older will compete in 76 different teams. About 70 events are offered, with most of them being track and field contests. Other sports competitions such as softball, tennis, shot put, javelin and distance jumping will also be taking place at the Special Olympics. The participants in this year’s games come from an area classified as Area 9 by the Illinois Special Olympics, which consists of 12 counties in East Central Illinois, including Coles County. The athletes are accompanied by over 250 coaches, mentors and chaperones.

10 weeks of planning and coordination are needed to make the Special Olympics possible.

The event is put together by a group of local volunteers, including over 800 students and staff from Eastern and community service groups from 12 counties.

The Special Olympics, which is a non-profit organization, receives the funds it needs from charity events. These charity events, such as the Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge and the annual Taste of Something Special, raise money for various competitions and the training for participating athletes. The Special Olympics also accepts direct donations from corporate and personal contributors and receives money from everyone who purchases official Special Olympics souvenirs.

The gold medalists from Friday’s events will advance to the Special Olympics Illinois State Summer Games, which will be from June 10 to June 12 on the campuses of Illinois State University in Normal and Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. That competition will feature more than 3,700 Special Olympics athletes from all over the state of Illinois.

Nicholas Teresky can be reached at [email protected]