LUBBOCK, Texas — On Monday, Special Olympics Texas announced that they will be suspending all sport training and competition activities through March 31.
Communications Director for Special Olympics Texas, Dave Norris, said the decision came after Special Olympics International spoke with the Centers for Disease Control and made a recommendation.
Norris said Special Olympics Texas hosts over 300 events a year, and the suspending of events in March has raised a lot of questions.
“’Does this mean my qualifications for state games are going to be messed up?’,” Norris said. “No — we’re working on that very hard right now to be fair to everybody to make sure this doesn’t negatively impact our athletes.”
Kenny DeLuna lives in Lubbock and coaches his son’s basketball team known as Oreo Blast.
DeLuna said both he and his son, Hunter, were disappointed by the news, but ultimately agree with the decision.
“We have a lot of athletes that have weaker immune systems and some older athletes that are over the age of 50,” DeLuna said. “So to protect them as well as these coaches and volunteers, I agreed with it. “
Norris said at the start of April, Special Olympics Texas will re-evaluate the threat of the coronavirus.
“Our athletes support us so much and they’re the voice of the organization,” Norris said. “And they’re gonna be with us through this, we’re gonna get through this.”
