“My coach told us and I was pretty excited,” the soft-spoken Gloster said. “I’m so excited about maybe winning a trophy and medal. I’m a little nervous, but want to help my team do their best.” Some of Gloster’s teammates, like 19-year-old Drew Callahan, are more vocal when it comes to expressing their thoughts, and while he’s excited too, he’s not looking forward to every part of the experience. “I won’t like the airplane ride,” Callahan admitted, “but I am excited about helping the team and trying to take the trophy home. I love spiking the ball and having fun out there. We do need to improve stuff like calling for the ball when it comes by us and staying in our own areas, but we’re really excited about competing.”
The dozen volleyball players all attend or are alumni of Elmer Knopf Learning Center in Flint and range in age from 16-year-old Kevin Metcalf-Gates to 43-year-old Dan Sabedra. They and their three coaches are part of the 491-member U.S. delegation for the World Games, slated for July 25-August 2. Volleyball will be played at UCLA’s famed Pauley Pavilion. The players are the first Genesee County athletes competing in the World Games since 2002, something head Coach Sheila Gafney can’t emphasize enough. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is a cliché, but this is the real deal. “When we found out we were going, I was like, ‘I want you all to do well and enjoy your time there because you may never have this opportunity again,’” said Gafney, who is also a physical education teacher at Elmer Knopf. “I keep stressing that this truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I want them to enjoy every aspect of it. I also want them to play well enough that we bring home something; it does not have to be gold.”
“I love coaching these guys, and once you can get them to believe in what you are trying to teach them, they will give you everything they have.”
Coach Sheila Gafney
The team enjoyed every part of winning both of their matches at the Special Olympics State Games in Mt. Pleasant last June, making the Area 13 Special Olympics team one of 11 division gold medalists. Those winners were entered into a drawing to determine which squad would earn a World Games berth. “It was luck and skill that we won our two games at the state tournament,” Callahan said. “We work well on the court.” Originally, Gafney was told they would know within two weeks, but when she called at the end of June, she was told to wait until the first of August. “We continued to sit on our hands and finally they called to tell us we were the team going to the World Games. We were ecstatic.”
The logistics of traveling so far with a contingent of developmentally-challenged teens and adults will present its challenges, and this winter the team engaged in a test to ensure all were ready for air travel. “Only one of the players had ever been on a plane, so our state office funded a flight to a Special Olympics training center in Indianapolis to see how everybody reacted to the situation,” said Gafney. “It was a short flight, which helped them get used to flying, and it went well, but I kept telling them the next one will be much longer and we will be gone for a far longer period of time, so they will have to like each other.”
The team roster includes Eric Gloster, Joseph Gross, Dalvin Keller, John Myers, Bret Rife, Michael Robinson, Drew Callahan, Nicholas Hutchinson, Kevin Metcalf-Gates, Stephen Miller, Alex Norris and Dan Sabedra.
Photo by Michael Gleason
Gafney likes working with Special Olympians and has done so for nearly 30 years. “I love coaching these guys, and once you can get them to believe in what you are trying to teach them, they will give you everything they have,” the former Mott Community College and Northern Michigan University volleyball player said. “That’s all I can ask of them.” Gafney said the team will begin to practice in earnest for the Summer Games in April, stressing the incorporation of more defense and strategy into their game. “I have about five guys who can spike very well and some of the guys are really good at serving which, of course, is a must if you are going to score points,” she said. “They don’t yet understand the concept of blocking. That’s something we are working on, along with defense and digging, but they hustle and have great spiking ability.” She added, “All the players have potential and usually play at least one part of the game well, but Drew is a very good athlete and can play all the positions and so can Dalvin. Danny is the oldest on the team, but very athletic. On a whim, I asked him to come back and play for us. He is excited it turned into a trip to the World Games. Eric is another solid, all-around athlete.”
Gafney said the team is in the process of raising the $30,000 required for the trip. “We are trying to get the word out and secure funding because this is going to be such a special experience for these guys,” she said. “For this many area athletes to be going to the Summer Games in the same year is unheard of.” To donate, contact Coach Gafney at 810.955.5895, or visit firstgiving.com/somi/worldgames2014. ♦
