Special Olympics Kansas

	MARCH MADNESS Forty years of Special Olympics and 40 years of basketball will take place at the State Basketball and Cheerleading Tournament in Hays on March 18-20. Kate Dorr, Most Inspirational Athlete for the 2009 competition, will light the torch during the opening ceremonies. Presenting sponsor, the Kansas State Council of the Knights of Columbus will also be featured in the opening ceremonies. Kate is a member of the Wyandotte county All Stars Team. Kate is a tiny 110 pounds, and is all heart. She will practice in all elements, in all types of weather. She works as hard as any of her teammates and her effort and determination are all for the team, not self-glory. Last year 1230 athletes from 40 programs participated in the basketball competition and 19 teams participated in cheerleading. Scheduled are 150 games to be played during the three day competition and over 450 volunteers will be needed. Forty (40) volunteers are utilized every 45 minutes on Friday and Saturday. For more info on schedule, Check out the schedule on our Sports page. Popcorn Standoff Returns James Browning and the Merriam PD will be hosting the Popcorn Standoff on April 3, 2010 from 1600 hrs to 2100 hrs at the Merriam Cinemark (5500 Antioch Road, Merriam, KS.) Please ask those in your department for volunteers in helping serve some popcorn while in uniform. Contact James at jbrowning@merriam.org for further info or setting up your time slot. We look forward to seeing you there! Midnight Run in Leawood The 2nd Annual Midnight Run will be held at midnight, Saturday, May 8th. The 5K Run / One Mile Fun Run starts and ends at the American Family Physicians parking lot (11400 Tomahawk Creek Pwky, Leawood, KS). The event is sponsored by the Leawood Police Department. Registration is available online or walk up registration opens on Friday, May 7th at 10:30 p.m. A flyer is available that contains all the details. 2010 National Games Delegation LOOKING FOR STORMWATCHERS. The Kansas Storm, Special Olympics Kansas’ official team, has big plans to blow away the competition this year at the 2010 USA National Games. The Kansas Storm is made up of 60 athletes from the state and will compete in the USA National Games in July 2010 at Lincoln, Nebraska in 9 different sports. Every Kansas Storm athlete is training longer and working harder as the USA National Games approaches, but they can’t do it alone. The Kansas Storm needs your support! Will you be a STORMWATCHER? check out the Kansas Storm Roster and see if there is an athlete from your area If you would like to support the Kansas Storm efforts to blow away the competition and bring home the gold visit: www.firstgiving.com/nationalgameskansas. SOKS Gear Online!! With all the great events happening with Special Olympics Kansas, we wanted everyone to be able to sport SOKS gear! Check out our new ONLINE STORE! Click here to visit! Personalized Gear Available Create your own personalized SOKS keepsake! You can personalize your memories and have gifts to wear or display. Items can be engraved or color on metal or color on porcelain ceramic. You can also download and use personal photos or images from SOKS Photo Album, thanks to Myron S. Cramer. (Go to Myron's website: www.pixofevents.com, right click on image, save picture as a .jpg file and attach when ordering.) Please visit www.pictureperfectengraving.com and use the project code SOKS for complete details!	SPIRIT SPONSORS: ___________