A Special First Place

Who would have thought that I would have been able to witness it again, in less than a month's time? This sport was volleyball. The elementary schools in our school district have intramural volleyball throughout most of the winter months, which culminates in a huge elementary-school tournament. They play 12 players on a team (rather than 6), and the games are timed (rather than playing to 15). Most of the schools field 4 or more teams.

I suppose you've guessed that my son was on the team to win first place, and when he came to serve, the final game was tied at 10, and he had served two aces to put the score to 12-10 when time ran out. It was exciting for him. It was exciting for all of us.

But my son isn't the focus of this article. Instead, it is the little boy on my son's team, the boy with Down's Syndrome.

I grew up with a retarded brother. I watched him get pushed out of most sports as he grew older. He couldn't remember the plays well enough for football, and his hand-eye coordination wasn't good enough for baseball. He excelled in the Special Olympics; his disabilities were lodged in his brain, not his body. He loved basketball though, and his athleticism won him a spot on the JV team in high school. His ability to react kept him on the bench most of the time. However, he was grateful for the chance to play with "the guys."

I thought about this when I saw "P" on the volleyball court. In elementary school, all the kids played equally. Each child waited his or her turn to rotate in; each child rotated out after their serve. I wondered if the kids on my son's team complained to find P on their team. I didn't ask. I'm not sure the kids really understand how P is different, except that he is small and needs help from a special teacher sometimes.

P was a good volleyball player. In fact, I'd credit the team's first-place ribbon to him. The team was down, 5-0, when P took his turn to serve. It's an unorthodox serve, kind of a side-arm. It barely cleared the net. And it always seem to fool the other team. In an earlier game, he scored 11 straight points. In this game, he scored three and completely turned the momentum around. While he was on the court, P was just another kid on the team, doing his part. When he was handed his blue ribbon, he grinned from ear to ear, like each one of his teammates.

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