Bishop Champion Games hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University

Bishop Champion Games April 18th, 2010

Being a part of the Bishop Champion Games last year was amazing for so many. We had a day filled with fun and accomplishments. I was honored to see my fellow OWU athletes working with these special needs individuals with such kindness and love. It was a stressful few weeks leading up to the games trying to make sure that we had everything ready for the athletes to compete. We put long nights and countless hours into making these games a success. Despite this hard work, the rewarding feeling that came from the games themselves proved to be more than worth it.

The main objective of the Bishop Games is to spread the gift of athletics with all special needs athletes no matter their level of competition. We strive to give back the abilities we have been given as college athletes to those who are less athletically fortunate. So as a result, it is a passion of all who are involved to give those athletes with special needs, whether cognitive or physical, a chance to compete at historic Selby Stadium performing their favorite track and field events.

As a group, we want all those who come in contact with the event to come away with memories that will last a lifetime. It is a dream for this event to become an annual event hosted at OWU. We have high goals and aspirations for the coming year to make this event reach out to an even larger group of individuals from more diverse places. We want OWU to be a place where special needs athletes from the area as well as those from further away, feel like when they come to a game that they can wear their Bishop Champion Games t-shirt and proudly feel like they know our athletes personally.

An objective that we are working on for this year is to raise even more money so we can give the athletes even more free apparel and so we can improve the event itself. Last year the athletes received free admission to compete, a t-shirt, a water bottle with our logo, an engraved dog tag, and a gold medal for the winner of the events at each age group. The Bishop Champion Games touched the lives of 97 special needs athletes, countless parents and family members, and over 50 OWU student athletes who volunteered. We had families and athletes asking from the time the event started, “So when are we are doing this again next year?” The smiles on the faces of the athletes were enough to make all the work that we had put into this event seem to fade into pure joy for those lives we could touch. Joy and excitement just poured out of all the athletes. It was evident in so many ways.

The days experiences were inspirational, but just to give you an idea I will name a few: when athletes had the medal put on their neck by a college athlete, when a champion of the event along with the 8 top finishers got to stand on the special podium, when their name was announced over the loud speaker, or simply when they got to have a professional photograph taken with the Bishop. The last event of the day called the Bishop relay gave the athletes not only a chance to compete against themselves, but our very own OWU athletes ran in the relay as the anchor leg.

Everything about the day was perfect because we as college athletes were able to touch more lives than we could ever have imagined. So this year we are calling to our fellow NCAC schools and challenging you to join us to make this day a success. The NCAC is full of competent, skilled, and passionate individuals who we would love to see helping us with this event. This is an event that takes us away from our competitive roots, and places us on a common ground as athletes who want to change the lives of others. So I am looking forward to hearing responses, ideas, or interest in aiding us on our quest to make the Bishop Champion Games even more of a success this year.

One goal, one love, let’s make it happen.

Best Wishes,
Sean Patrick


http://connect2.owu.edu/issues/20090424/athletics/bishopGames.html (link to a short article before the event last year)

Building Leadership and Team Spirit

Building Leadership and Team Spirit
OWAC initiates ‘Red Alert’ games

It could be someone sitting beside you in chemistry, or the person buying lunch behind you in the campus center, or your roommate and best friend—wherever you look, Ohio Wesleyan is full of student-athletes, and they are making their marks on OWU. Over the past couple of years, the Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Council (OWAC) has become an increasingly present group on campus, working to promote student-athletes and helping to improve their relationship with the OWU and Delaware communities.

OWAC is Ohio Wesleyan’s name for the NCAA sponsored Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). According to Julie Duffy, OWAC Advisor, all NCAA sponsored schools are required to have a SAAC on their campus. Representatives of each OWU sport are included on OWAC, and students have the opportunity to participate both on OWU’s campus and beyond at the conference level.

This year, OWAC is focusing on gaining support and public presence within the campus and Delaware communities. To do so, they have initiated “Red Alert” games to encourage more fan support at games.

“Every team picks one game in the season that is a ‘Red Alert’ game,” explains Duffy. “All athletes that aren’t in practice or competing themselves go to these games to give their fellow student-athletes the support they need.” A Facebook page titled 22 Sports, 1 Team, Team OWU has been created to give students frequent updates on OWU athletics and “Red Alert” games, and t-shirts have also been made to promote the events.

OWAC is also making a name for itself through community service, such as the local Special Olympics Bishop Games that it hosted last spring on campus. At this event, almost 100 special needs athletes competed in track and field events, drawing community and campus members together as 50 OWU student-athletes helped to run and support the event.

For Duffy, OWAC is an important tool to support student-athletes and engage the rest of campus with the exciting athletic program at OWU. “I think we often forget that we have about 500 student athletes on this campus that blend in every day with the regular students, but they put in hours of extra commitment to the athletic department and their own program. This group helps promote what the student-athletes do on and off campus and they bring the needs of the student-athlete to the athletic department’s attention and to the attention of everyone else on campus,” she says.

Student-athletes involved in OWAC also consider it to be very valuable to Ohio Wesleyan. For many, it is the chance to make a difference and increase their impact as athletes and leaders on campus. Rachel Seibel ’10, a member of OWAC’s Drug and Alcohol Policy Committee, enjoys shaping important decisions through involvement with OWAC.

“I think athletics are a huge part of Ohio Wesleyan, and we have the ability to lead both on and off the court/field,” she comments. “On the Drug and Alcohol Policy Committee, we want to stress that students know that athletics are a privilege instead of something that is just given to them. As members of OWAC, we are able to voice our opinions to the head committee in charge of the policy.

Erica Lowell ’11 agrees, saying that OWAC is “a great opportunity to get connected with the community of Delaware and give back.” Indeed, the members of OWAC seem most motivated by the chance to bring positive change to Ohio Wesleyan. As Pam Quigney ’11 puts it, “We can be leaders on campus by the sports that we play.”

– Amanda Zechiel, Ohio Wesleyan ’09

Photo credit: Lynn Albers, Ohio Wesleyan ’08

2009 Fall NCAC SAAC Meeting