By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

RESERVE ¬– More than 30 athletes participated in St. John the Baptist Parish’s first ever Special Olympics sports development clinic.

Held on April 5 at Regala Gym in Reserve, the clinic provided participants with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of horseshoes, basketball, track and field events and bocce ball and then play the sports in groups.

Director of Outreach and Management for Special Olympics of Louisiana Charlie Courville said the goal is to have clinics in St. John Parish twice a year. He said the Special Olympics is also focused on recruiting more school-aged children to participate in the events.

The goal of the clinic was to provide people with intellectual disabilities to learn new sports skills, improve individual sport performance, participate in individual and team sports and build friendships.