Alachua County’s contingent of eight athletes received a hearty sendoff on Thursday as they left the Gainesville Woman’s Club and headed to compete in the Special Olympics as part of Team Florida.
The athletes train all year in the area and especially at Legacy Park in Alachua. The athletes and their coaches will compete in basketball, cornhole, gymnastics and bowling, and some earned medals in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games and 2023 Special Olympics World Games.
“I am so excited to put on that Team Florida jersey again and play the game with my teammates,” Kiondre Brown, MVP of the 2023 unified basketball national championship team, said. “To my coaches, to my family, to everyone in Gainesville and Alachua who support us, thank you. We are going to make you proud.”
Rev. John Brown of St. Paul AME Church served as emcee, bringing up speakers to wish the team good luck and athletes to say the Pledge of Allegiance and the Special Olympic Athlete Oath: “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave at the attempt.”
Law enforcement officers cheered the athletes to their rides and then escorted the athletes to the interstate for a trip to Orlando. From there, Team Florida will head to Minneapolis for the games.
Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott attended and gave a farewell message. He said the athletes’ hard work training earned them automatic accolades.
“I know you guys are going to do a great job; I know you’re going to win,” Scott said. “But as a coach, I have to tell you this, ‘You’ve already won.’”
