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COVER STORY
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
Special Ops
The opportunity to volunteer for
the 2104 Special Olympics USA
Games is one the NJ State PBA
members should not pass up.
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
The 100-days-until-the-start-of-the-Special-Olympics-2014USA-Games mark had just passed, and the thought of the
second-largest sporting event ever to come to New Jersey
took Kevin Lyons back to his teens.
“I remember when I was working on my Eagle Scout,” said
Lyons, the NJ State PBA Executive and recently retired Executive Board member who also represents the organization on
the Special Olympics New Jersey State Committee to plan law
enforcement events. “One of my projects was working with
developmentally and physically challenged young people. I
will never forget how that made me feel.”
The brief flashback quickly turned to a flash forward when
Lyons considered how the Special Olympics USA Games,
scheduled for June 15-21, will bring 3,500 athletes, 1,000
coaches and delegates, 10,000 volunteers and 70,000 spectators to New Jersey, in magnitude second only to what we
saw with Super Bowl XLVIII in February.
“There’s no more pure joy than watching those athletes
compete,” he gushed. “The joy is so pure and so genuine that
if you’re not moved by it, you’re not human. When you get to
go to that event and hand out medals to the athletes, to me
it’s truly one of the highest honors a law enforcement officer
can have.”
Calling All Cops
To volunteer for the Special Olympics USA
Games, go to:
https://2014sogv.theregistrationsystem.com
Or check the NJSPBA website at
www.njspba.com
Registration Deadline is April 15
Lyons is calling all cops to experience that joy. As part of
his official duties to the Special Olympics State Committee,
he is recruiting volunteers to work security and other details
for the USA Games. A minimum of 2,000 law enforcement
volunteers will be needed to cover nine venues, two athletes’ villages that require 24-hour security, the opening and
closing ceremonies and Mercer County Airport.
The national Special Olympics game sued to be contested quadrennially on the Notre Dame campus. But that grew
to an international event held in cities like Athens and
Dublin. In response, the USA Games were created and put
to a bid process to be hosted. Campus sites (Iowa State 2006;
University of Nebraska 2010) previously hosted, but when
the games outgrew a single campus site, Special Olympics
New Jersey (SONJ) won the bid for 2014.
SONJ President Marc Edenzon suspects the USA Games
will grow to the point where only major cities will be able
to bid on them. His goal is to “come up with innovative ideas
and an athlete experience that puts a mark on these games
and enhance them for future and larger games.
To do that:
“We need an organized effort from law enforcement personnel in a variety of way and volunteer positions,” Edenzon continued. “We need their expertise. They have always
demonstrated an incredible commitment to the athletes
and the movement.”