Enthusiastic and outgoing, Cowichan Lake has two excellent representatives in Special Olympics events, with Julie Black and Jenny Schofield.
“They’re not afraid to play any sports,” Shofield’s mother, Jean, said. “They’re enthusastic.”
“It’s meeting new people and making friends,” Jenny said, of her inspiration to spend the last 10 years or so competing in the Special Olympics.
Julie is a bit newer to the sports events, with this being her first year of competition.
“I knew Jenny before, and I know some of the kids on the teams,” she said. “It’s just fun.”
Jenny has recently garnered some accolades, having recently received the Mary Smith Memorial Award for high triple pin bowling, during this past winter season.
High triple pin is where the scores from three rounds of bowling are added together. The person with the highest score over the three games is declared the winner.
During the winter season, Jenny competed in the Special Olympics’ bowling and floor hockey leagues; indoor activities for the cold winter months. Julie also participated in the bowling league, and plans on joining her friend with floor hockey this coming winter season.
But, for now, the two are in the midst of a busy summer season of Special Olympics excitement.
The two are both competing in weekly baseball and soccer practices.
Although their participation in the baseball league is strictly for fun at this point, with no tournaments planned for the near future, soccer is another story.
The two plan on competing in a Saturday, July 9, Island-wide soccer tournament, at the Chesterfield Track in Duncan. The two Cowichan Lake residents will compete together, or against one anther, in one of two co-ed Cowichan Valley teams.
“It’s just for fun,” Julie said, of any kind of rivalry between the two. Any rivalry would be done in a fun, joking manner.
The two athletes were also spotted in recent months at the Country Grocer raising money for the Special Olympics with a raffle. They managed to raise $5,000, and are planning further Special Olympics fund-raisers for some time in September.
Julie graduated from Lake Cowichan Secondary School last year, and is currently enrolled in the Vancouver Island University Employable Skills Program.