A Love & Friendship Story

Part of the greater Special Olympics movement, Brunswick County Special Olympics serves more than 1,000 athletes, giving a joy that is about much more than sports.

Photos by Ellen Sheehan

When Eunice Kennedy Shriver created Camp Shriver in the backyard of her Maryland home out of love for her intellectually affected sister, Rosemary, her dream was that it would someday become a year-round program for sports training and competition for people with an array of intellectual abilities.

It was the seed that grew into Special Olympics in 1968. Eunice may or may not have envisioned it back then, but Special Olympics has budded into something much more than planned. Today it is also a source of deep love and tender relationships among the athletes, parents, coaches and volunteers — a precious gift for all who partake. And my, how it has grown.

Locally, Special Olympics has been a partnership with Brunswick County Parks and Recreation in Bolivia for more than 25 years. It has matured under the able leadership of Local Coordinator Alyssa Coln over the past five years. Brunswick County Special Olympics hosted its largest Spring Games at Town Creek Park in Winnabow in March 2026 with more 1,000 athletes, and there are 15 sports now serving the Special Olympics population.

Mauquel Randall, 33, of Calabash, is the newly crowned 2026 Athlete of the Year for Brunswick County.

He has been involved in a litany of Special Olympics sports since he was a little boy. Last year he earned special honors by winning the gold medal in the 1500-meter run at the state games in Raleigh. And he is on the state-games-winning basketball team awarded a berth to compete in the Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota this summer.

“But it’s not just about the winning,” Randall says. “Being on the basketball team is like family. And all the members of the running club team were like my family. Just to be with everybody, having a good time, and the friendship that comes with it.”

Each sports team has a head coach and several assistant coaches.

Diane Juda of Southport just completed her seventh-year coaching bocce. Her daughter, Katie, is a special athlete as well. Juda also heads up Olympic Town for the young athletes at Spring Games. It’s the place between competitions, where the athletes go to play games, listen to music, win prizes and just chill out with their friends.

“I do all these things for the love of the athletes,” Juda said. “These strong, courageous, determined and joyful athletes have touched my heart in the deepest way. As a parent, I understand the daily struggles. I thought it was only Katie and her bubbly personality that rose above those struggles to choose joy every day. But when I got involved with the program, I realized it’s all of them. How can you not want to be around that?”

Christy Martin of Shallotte is also a Special Olympics parent. She volunteers to support her son Joshua’s Mile Run Club.

The club is one of the new sports Alyssa Coln has brought aboard. The objective is for the athletes to complete the mile run at the annual Sunset Beach races put on by Coastal Race Productions (CRP).

“We love Special Olympics,” Martin says. “It gives Joshua a place to feel included and to make friends. Run Club is his favorite of all the sports he’s done. He loves being part of a team, and he especially loves socializing and getting together with everyone. I get so much satisfaction in watching him grow, and Special Olympics gives him the opportunity.”

Ocean Isle Beach resident Jill Meyer is 37 and joined Special Olympics a decade ago “because I wanted to not sit on the sidelines anymore.” She beams over her involvement in bocce, swimming, volleyball, tennis and softball. She and her friend Katie Juda earned the bronze medal in bocce at the USA Games in Florida in 2022.

“It has changed my life,” Meyer says. “Being able to get around and out and do more stuff. I have more friends now than ever.”

Meyer has so much confidence now that she has become a Special Olympics Ambassador. She makes presentations to area service clubs to tell them about the program and seek more coaches and financial contributions.

“I was afraid at first. Really afraid,” she says. “But when I got there, I opened up.”

Meyer is now taking classes at Brunswick Community College. “My hope is to become a researcher in the area of horticulture,” she says.

Oh, dear Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Look what you have done!

SOMETHING SPECIAL
Volunteer with Special Olympics
Do you have an hour once a week for 10 weeks and would like to learn to be a coach or assistant? Please help! There are openings for soccer, equestrian, cheer, conditioning, softball, tennis and golf skills.
Please email brunswick@sonc.net.
Check out their Facebook page: SOBrunswickCounty