Special Olympics New Mexico held its largest-ever summer games last weekend.
Some 1,035 athletes, up from 800 last year, participated in track and field, bocce, volleyball, cycling and gymnastics, said SONM spokesman Oscar Solis.
There are more than 2,500 athletes involved in Special Olympics in New Mexico and three million worldwide, he said.
"More and more people, especially in these hard times, are needing what Special Olympics has to offer," Solis said. "The celebration of life and sports intertwined together is contagious. . That's why we see so much growth."
But Solis said the increase in athletes has coincided with a decrease in donations to SONM.
"For the past few years, we've just been seeing such a great growth in the number of athletes who have been participating in Special Olympics," he said. "Because of the economy, we've seen our challenges in terms of individual contributions which feed our sports."
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Jamie Lee Hall, area director of Special Olympics in McKinley and Cibola counties, said she's seen the organization grow from one athlete in Gallup seven years ago to more than 100 in the two counties.
Antonia Lovato, grandmother of Bianca Lovato, a Special Olympics veteran, said she's glad to see how her granddaughter's involvement in Special Olympics has increased.
"I got her 17 years ago when her dad passed away, and I got her into Special Olympics," she said. "She started out with just swimming, and now she's in volleyball, bocce - I mean, she's in everything."
Lovato said she has seen Bianca, who is mentally disabled, gain confidence and physical fitness as a Special Olympics athlete.
"She's with her peers . and she's a really happy person," Lovato said. "She's involved in all this, and that keeps her going and being happy."
Solis said Special Olympics New Mexico has helped redefine the role of people with disabilities since it was founded more than forty years ago.
"(SONM's 1968 inception) started this movement where people with intellectual disabilities, through sport, would be recognized for their capabilities and not for their stereotypes," he said.
Hall said Special Olympics New Mexico has changed recognition of disabled athletes within the family setting as well.
"It changes the way that families see their athletes as being people with abilities and not just disabilities," Hall said. "I think that they get a lot of support from each other and they grow as people as well as athletes."
Solis said the events provide a perspective on athletics that is different from other sporting competitions.
"It's not about being the best," he said. "It's about being your best, and that's the philosophy that's in Special Olympics. It doesn't matter what level of player they are. The fact that they're out there competing, they've already won."
