SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE AIR ISABLED ATHLETES TURN HOPES TO REALITY.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

GLENDALE - The competition Saturday on the track at Glendale High School was not about speed or agility - not about who could run the fastest, jump the highest or throw the farthest.

And it was certainly not about winning, because no one really cares who wins when just showing up and competing in the Tri-Valley Special Olympics is an incredible feat by itself.

No, what these games are all about is heart and guts. Plenty of guts.

It's 700 local kids and young adults competing in wheelchairs, wearing body braces, and with arms and legs that have betrayed them doing athletic feats they were never supposed to be able to do.

It's about dedicated parents who believe in them, and volunteer coaches who have given them the chance to show the world just how talented and special they really are.

Walk around the track with me. Meet some of these wonderful people.

For Bill and Suzy Stark - whose 14-year-old son, Michael, was chosen as one of the most inspirational athletes at the 2003 Tri-Valley Special Olympic Games - the day was about hope finally coming true.

When the doctors tell you that your son has a problem, that he's never going to be like the other kids, hope is something you cling to.

But reality is something you live with day in and day out as the years pass.

``You get a double whammy when you have a child with a disability,'' Suzy said. ``You see the reality but keep hoping your son will have some of the same opportunities as other kids.''

And now here their son was Saturday, playing on the Tri-Valley basketball team. Running up and down the court dribbling a basketball as best he could - looking up into the stands and smiling at his proud parents.

Bill and Suzy Stark cheering Michael on, watching some of that hope they've been waiting for finally come true.

For Anthony Jefferson, Saturday was the first time he truly opened his eyes and saw his 12-year-old son, Augustus, the way the boy wanted to be seen.

As a winner!

Anthony wasn't supposed to be there Saturday. He was tricked into coming by his wife, Winnifer, who told her husband he would have to drop their son off at the high school because she had a hair appointment. She lied.

For years, he wouldn't believe his boy was autistic, Anthony said. When the reality finally set in, it hit him hard. Hard enough that he buried himself in his work and wasn't around much when his boy decided he wanted to join the track and field team at Leichman High, his special education school in Reseda.

``My wife was supposed to meet me here so I could leave and go to work, but she just called and said it was all a trick,'' Anthony said. ``She wasn't coming. She wanted me to see my son compete.''

Anthony sought me out to tell me this story because it was important, he said. Work could wait. He was wrong and selfish all these years to think that because his son was autistic, he couldn't be an athlete like the other kids.

He didn't want other fathers to make the same mistake, he said, as Augustus spotted his father in the crowd and ran up to give him a big hug.

The kid's smile could have lit up the Coliseum.

For Hailey Swartz, it was a day to see firsthand the result of all those Saturdays her 16-year-old daughter, Jodi - a long distance runner at Oak Park High School - gave up to drive across the Valley to Grant High School to coach some of these Tri-Valley athletes for the track competition.

``I've been watching them hug and kiss her, and it's just so heartwarming,'' Hailey said. ``I've never been more proud of my daughter than I am right now.''

She was speaking for all the mothers and fathers of these teenage high school and college athletes who volunteer to help train some special education kids their own age who never got the breaks or the chances they did.

And finally for a couple of senior citizens, Robert and Faith Goldenhar, they learned what all volunteers learn sooner or later. That writing a check to charity doesn't come close to matching the personal gratification of giving your time.

``We've been volunteers here for exactly four hours and 10 minutes, and it's been the most wonderful thrilling experience we've ever had,'' Robert said Saturday morning.

The Goldenhars were standing at the finish line wearing red T-shirts with the words ``Gimme a Hug'' written across them.

And that's exactly what these young athletes did as they crossed the finish line.

Everybody was too busy yelling and cheering them on to notice who won.

Who cares? They're all gold medal winners in the Tri-Valley Special Olympic Games.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) Above, Nick Fujii, 24, of North Hollywood and Glendale police Officer Sue Shine carry a torch at the Special Olympics in Glendale. At left, Robert Goldenhar congratulates Angel Amescua, 20, after he wins a 30-meter race.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer