Family NEWSLETTER Vol. 12 – January TO APRIL 2015
From the desk of
Maxine Everson – The Grand Lady of Special
Olympics Cayman Islands!
the Chairman
Story and photo
by Toni Johnson
[Pictured,
at
left: Mrs. Maxine
Everson
(middle
row,
centre) is lovingly surrounded by Athletes
(back row, left
to right, Andrew Smilley,
Hamish Wood;
middle row, left
to right, Cindy
Whittaker, Leonardo Bodden,
Kevin Anglin;
(front
row)
Mackie Smith]
On Sunday, 26 April, 2015, the Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson,
Cert. Hon., hosted the second annual
DG 5K Challenge, with Special Olympics Cayman Islands being the event's
beneficiary. I think hosting is the right
word to use for this event as the turn
out from the public and private sectors
was just incredible: there were over
1,200 participants.
The message I heard from so many
participants was very much the same,
they were just so excited and proud to
be supporting Special Olympics Cayman Islands and our athletes, regardless of whether or not they are part of
our World Games delegation.
It
was a beautiful evening in March
Special Olympics Cayman Islands 2015 when Her Excellency Helen
(“SOCI”) had an impressive turnout Kilpatrick CB, Patron of Special
with 46 registered for the event, all
very distinctive in our red t-shirts. Bas- Olympics Cayman Islands, held a
ketball athlete, Shaun Ebanks, present- reception to honour one of SOCI’s
ed the Deputy Governor with a World most dedicated stalwarts. Like the
Games pin at the start of the event and honoree herself, the reception was
we also had basketball athlete, Alex informal, yet classy; low-key but sufCox, and former Chairperson Liz Wal- fused with energy.
ton representing SOCI in the DG's
Brac Challenge.
Maxine Everson is a tiny lady who packs
a great big punch. She has been the most
enthused and energetic board member
with SOCI for the past 26 years (in fact,
the small group secretly planning this
event code-named the project The Ener[Cont’d. on page 2] giser Bunny Project) and has been a
It is so gratifying and encouraging for
all of us involved in SOCI, and especially for our athletes, when we witness this level of public support for our
organization.
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driving force behind the many successes
and firsts achieved by one of the smallest
programmes in Special Olympics International. Her dreams are never small,
however, and she has always had a vision that the Caribbean region should be
a significant part of the global movement
of Special Olympics. To this end, she
has served on the Caribbean Leadership
Council and the Caribbean board of Directors and is currently on the task force
that is working on revitalising the Caribbean programmes. “We are small but we
are mighty!” she says, words that she
could have aptly applied to herself.
[Cont’d. on page 2]
[Cont’d from page 1]
Our Patron, Her Excellency the Governor, Mrs. Helen Kilpatrick, CB, was also there to provide support and to present
awards and prizes. An event of this size requires a huge amount
of organization, so I must recognize both the Cayman Islands
Government and SOCI team members without whose tireless
efforts this event could not have taken place.
On Sunday, 3 May, we marked the start of our 2015 National
Games and Week of Awareness with a church service at the
Church of Christ in West Bay. As always, the National Games
are a great opportunity for all of our athletes to showcase their
talents and demonstrate on the field of competition the benefits
of all their hard work in training.
Certainly the more vibrant our organization becomes, the greater our ability will be to build public awareness and to sustain
those efforts. I think we are doing a great job and our Family
Newsletter plays such an important part.
After a very successful 2015 Eric Crutchley Memorial Golf
Tournament (next year will mark the 5th anniversary of this
event, so it will have to be extra special), with the help of Josh
Shepard and the other coaches at the North Sound Golf Club
we introduced golf as an alternative sporting discipline for our
athletes. We started off with a very small group of athletes but
all involved seem very enthusiastic.
Yours in service to Special Olympics,
Building public awareness of what our organization stands for
and how we can change and improve our athletes‟ lives through
athleticism and sport will always be something we must work Nick Freeland
hard at, whether or not we have the benefit of the PR that surrounds a World Games Year. There will always be a need to Chairman of the Board of Directors
promote awareness about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities and to dispel stigmas and misconceptions.
[Cont’d from page 1]
“Mighty Max”: the Grand Lady of
SOCI !
Despite being „retired‟ and 77
years young, Ms Max shows no
signs of slowing down. The ideas
keep tumbling out at top speed.
“Sometimes my brain is going so
fast my words cannot keep up!”,
she jokes.
At any gathering you can see her
bending the ear of anyone of influence that might be able to help the
mission - which is that persons
with intellectual disabilities get the
opportunities to train and compete
in sport, as it is in this way they are
able to lead more fulfilled, happy
and healthy lives.
not everyone we would have liked
to be there could come. However,
there was a good cross-section of
her friends from way back in the
early days of SOCI, volunteers,
coaches and athletes, board members, government representatives
and her family. Master of Ceremonies for the event was Hon. Bernie
Bush, MLA for West Bay, who
was the person who first invited
Maxine to volunteer with SOCI in
the early days. “We needed someone to help us make phone calls
and she said OK”, he says with
nostalgia. The rest, as they say, is
history. She never left; she is still
For the reception, greetings and making phone calls, though these
well-wishes poured in from across days it is more likely to be detailed
the globe. As numbers were limited e-mails, full of ideas, advice and
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instructions. One of the highlights
of the evening was the presentation
of a book of memories to Ms Max.
This contained a collection of photographs from over the years as
well as greetings or quotes from
persons like Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics International and the Hon. Alden
McLaughlin, Premier of the Cayman Islands plus many colleagues,
family and friends. Words like passionate, committed, energetic, caring, inspiring, were repeated over
and over when describing Maxine.
In her inimitable way, she downplays her role by reminding us that
we are all volunteers. “And once
you volunteer in Special Olympics,
you are a volunteer for life!”
Maxine Everson: volunteer extraordinaire, visionary, advocate,
mentor, seeker, dreamer.
We salute you!
NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
(Contributed by Ms. Maxine)
Eric Crutchley Memorial Golf Tournament
 January 24th, 2015, featured the fourth Eric Crutchley Memorial Golf Tournament with a field of 28
teams at the North Sound Golf Club. It was an enjoyable day and Cindy Crutchley, and her son Michael
(who came especially from the UK), had an opportunity to chat and visit with many of the golfers.
[Above, left to right, Cindy Crutchley, Maxine Everson and Michael
Crutchley – photo by SOCI]



3
[Above, Her Excellency the Governor Helen Kilpatrick, CB, with
prize winners KRyS Global, PWC and Aetna - photo by SOCI]
Cayman National Bank continues to be the title sponsor. Aon and North Sound Club were gold sponsors.
Deutsche Bank, KRyS Global, CI Government and Vision Marketing were silver sponsors, with donations from CINICO, L&A and Friends of Eric. Great in-kind donations were received from several hotels
such as the Ritz, Marriott, Sunshine Suites, restaurants, Red Sails, Cockatoo Catamaran, E&Y and Magnum Jewelers. The Mini Car, the big prize for the Hole in One, sponsored by Chris Gunby – G.T. Automotive, was nearly won this year!
Her Excellency the Governor Helen Kilpatrick, CB presented the trophy and prizes to the first place winner (KRyS Global), as well as prizes to the Second Place (PWC) and third place (Aetna). Athletes Cindy
Whittaker, Julius Smith, Hamish Wood, Matthew Ebanks and Mark Ebanks assisted MC Vanessa Hansen
with presenting the other prizes and pulling the winning raffle tickets. The big winning raffle prize from
Ritz (worth over US$2,500) was won by Mike Thomas from Day Out team.
The subcommittee - Seamus Tivenan, Christine Travers, Barnie Juka, Debbi Ebanks, and Kim Short - did
an excellent job. Plans have already been discussed for the 5th golf tournament for 2016 to make it a fun
filled memorable occasion.
Legends Tennis Event
Coaches’
Training
Clinic
February was a busy month for our coaches
and volunteer coaches as they attended the
coaches training clinic on 6th and 7th February,
2015 at the ICCI, Grand Cayman. The World
Games criteria are that all coaches attending
must be certified so plans were made to invite
Meghan Maclean, Manager for Sports Training and Competition from Special Olympics
Florida. The opportunity was taken to have all
sports volunteers and coaches, whether attending the World Games or not, certified in their
specific sports.
Part of the training included a practical session
with coaches and athletes, so the Truman Bodden Complex and the Lions Pool were busy as
ever on Saturday afternoon. Our athletes were
also selected based on their current sport training: Aquatics – Cindy Whittaker, Hamish
Wood and Kanza Bodden; Athletics – Amoy
Waite, Jazlyn Hydes, Shanike Ebanks; Basketball – Shawn Ebanks, Rhomar Williams, Azbis Amaya; Bocce – Anna Jackson, Elena Ow,
John White; Football – Jaheim Ebanks, Julius
Smith, Tyrene Ebanks, Sharran Greenridge,
Eric Frederick, Micah and Joshua O‟Garro.
Our organization now has 25 certified coaches
in their specific disciplines.
The clinic ended with a dinner presentation at
Sea Harvest Restaurant where Meghan distributed the certificates to the deserving coaches.
Dart - one of our long-time supporters - offered us a free
tent at the Legends Tennis event that was held on 13th and
14th February, 2015.
In addition, ten of our athletes (whether identified with
Down‟s Syndrome or other Intellectual Disabilities) were
invited to take part in the Tennis Clinic for Persons with
Down‟s Syndrome offered by Pro Tennis Player Murphy
Jensen.
Nancy Bodden donated a big teddy bear named „Honey
Fitz‟. Honey Fitz was “dressed to the nines” in Legends tennis gear, SOCI hat and even held a Cayman bottle of honey!
Other gifts were Cayman Airways tickets given by Dart,
two baskets by Celebrations and several SOCI items including Valentine Wooden roses. A name prize was put in each
helium balloon. Attendees bought tickets and popped their
balloons to see what prizes they had won. Athletes who assisted were: Cindy Whittaker, Kanza Bodden, Lizzie Hoptroff and Hamish Wood. It was really great to see the athletes selling the tickets and the wooden roses. Our new sales
man is Hamish Wood - many persons could not resist his
charm as he spoke about Special Olympics, his role, and of
[Pictured above are Pro Tennis Player Murphy Jensen and athletes who
took part in the Clinic - Photo by Kim Wood, Families Director]
course you bought the Valentine roses or other trinkets if not his words: “You‟re fired”. His Mum, Kim, was so
surprised at Hamish‟s natural talent. In addition to the
many pictures taken with the Circle of Inclusion, parent
Nancy Bodden and Kanza with some of the Legends Ball
Boys/girls had a round robin time with the SOCI ball.
[Cont’d. on page 7]
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11th June
Upcoming Events
Tickets are now on sale for the Cayman Gala
that would be held at the Marriott Hotel. The
Ball Room would be decked out in local décor
that would include some of athlete Mark
Ebanks‟ pictures. It would be a great evening
with live entertainment and would feature
Vicky Wheaton as the MC. The event is another World Games fund raiser. Contact details Kym at 623-1034 or email soci@candw.ky to
purchase your ticket.
13th June
1 mile Flowers Sea Swim - even if you do not
swim, you can walk the beach to support the
swimmers, including our local athletes and athletes from Special Olympics Virginia and Maryland, for a small fee which would go to the
World Games expenses. Contact details - Kym at
623-1034 or email soci@candw.ky to sign up.
2 Thumbs Up for
Kevin !!
World Down’s Syndrome Day 2015
(21st March)
Contributed
by AnneMarie Gray
[In Picture,
left to right,
brothers,
Drake and
DJ Hewitt,
celebrate
World
Down’s
Syndrome
Day 2015 –
photo
by
Mum, Rebecca
Hewitt]
Cayman's Down Syndrome Supporters encouraged participation with Random Acts of Kindness for World Down’s Syndrome
Day 2015. People were asked, through social media, to spread
kindness in honour of all people with Down’s syndrome. We
hope those who participated had a lot of fun spreading kindness
and awareness throughout Cayman. For more information,
check out Cayman's Down Syndrome Supporters new website here: https://cidssupport.wordpress.com'
5
The Shooting Stars Newsletter Team sends „2
Thumbs Up‟ to Kevin Anglin (pictured above with
Ms. Maxine). His aunt, Ms. Matlee, has spoken highly of his faithfulness and dedication in Church attendance. Kevin goes to Wesleyan Holiness church and
over the Easter Week this year, the church held services each night, from Wednesday night to Sunday
night. Kevin didn‟t miss any of the services, including
11:00 a.m. service and night service on Good Friday!
Good going, Kevin!!
Meet Our Coaches: Special Olympics Football
Coaches play a vital role in the development of Special Athletes: the Coaches encourage and inspire each Athlete, making sure that the Athlete performs to the best
of his or her ability.
[In this issue, Shooting Stars Newsletter gets up close and personal with two of our Football Coaches:]
Dwayne Ebanks
Coach Dwayne Ebanks (pictured
right) is the head coach for the Football team going to the World Games
this year. He has a “true passion to
educate and guide our youths”.
He works with the Cayman Islands
Government, in the Planning Department/Petroleum Inspectorate, and has
been involved in football since he was
8 years old. He currently assists with
administrative duties in the local refereeing department and occasionally refs
in Cayman‟s youth and senior football
leagues.
Coach Dwayne says that the benefits
of playing sports are that you gain
lifetime friends and make memories.
In addition, sports build character and
sports coaches assist athletes in developing to their full potential. In relation
to Football, Coach Dwayne points out
that the role of the coach is to create
the right conditions for learning and
finding ways of motivating the athletes. Most athletes are highly motivated and therefore the task is to maintain
that motivation and to generate excitement and enthusiasm. Coach Dwayne
trains Special Olympics athletes in
Football and has travelled to Jamaica
(Invitational 2013) with Special Olympics athletes. He has been involved in
Special Olympics Cayman Islands
(„SOCI‟) since 2013. He became a part
of SOCI because he wanted to give
back more to his community other
than refereeing football - he wanted to
give Special Olympics athletes the
same opportunity as other players/
athletes in our small community.
Coach Dwayne says that being a coach
for Special Olympics athletes takes
patience, passion, confidence and respect. Many of our athletes come to
their first practice with very little
knowledge of football or the laws of
the game. Because of this, he points
out; you will need to help them become familiar with their options.
When asked what he liked most about
being a coach, this was his response:
“I can share my personal experience
with the athletes, guide the athletes in
the right direction toward their career
goals and the path of life and learn
more from the athletes, likewise.”.
and Nathaniel Nelson
Coach Nathaniel Nelson has been involved in Special Olympics Cayman Islands („SOCI‟) for one year. In response to our
query as to what made him become a part of SOCI, he said “I finally realized many years ago that it is important to give back to
the community that we are a part of, and so when I moved to the Cayman Islands, I wanted to find a fun and challenging way to
do this. I had played football when I was younger and wanted to help people to enjoy it as much as I did.”. What he likes most
about being a coach is being a part of the athletes‟ lives in some small way. He enjoys learning from them how he can be a better coach and mentor. Coach Nathaniel plays football and also likes running. He enjoys watching all sports but says his favourite sport would have to be baseball. He has a variety of hobbies and interests: he enjoys playing the guitar, singing and pla ying
the piano whenever he gets the chance but he also enjoys playing video games, reading, and working on computer related projects. Coach Nathaniel spoke about the benefits of playing sports and pointed out that sports are a fun way to remain active and
healthy, and they are also a great way to learn teamwork and discipline.
[Cont’d. on page 7]
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[Coach Nathaniel Nelson is pictured above, back row extreme right, with a group of his enthusiastic football players and assistants - photo by
SOCI]
He noted that SOCI offers a fun and rewarding environment for kids and adults with special needs to stay
active and to learn the benefits of teamwork and he
added that SOCI also gives them a great forum to explore different types of sports under the guidance of
strong leaders in the community.
really teach more about what it takes to have heart,
courage, and the will to never give up.”
We asked Coach Nathaniel what he would like to say
to people in the community, about SOCI, and he replied that it is often easy to forget how much we gain
as a community when we get involved with and help
out people in need, as much as we can.
When asked what SOCI meant to him, Coach Nelson
replied, “SOCI is easily the most rewarding organization that I have been involved with since moving to
the Cayman Islands. I enjoy coaching the athletes and
trying to pass on what knowledge I can, however they
He pointed out that the rewards are not always instant
but they will build a strong foundation for athletes,
coaches and the community. A foundation, he says,
that will last a life time.
[Cont’d. from page 6]
[Cont’d. from page 4]
Youngsters heard about Special Olympics and Kanza‟s swimming prowess, and one of the ball girls was
determined to win „Honey Fitz‟ as she is also a swimmer.
THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make the evenings such successes. In addition to the parents, other
persons for the two nights included volunteers from Aon, Susanne Wendland from Ernst & Young, Jackie
and Peter Balls, Bernice and Eugene Doyle, Patty Neesome, board and committee members - Jeff and Kim
Short, Debbi Ebanks, Christine Travers, Susan Whittaker, Nadine Hayle, Toni Johnson and Maxine Everson.
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A Mosaic of Magical [SOCI] Moments
Cont’d on P 9
(Pix By SOCI)
8
A Mosaic ……..
9
Cont’d from P 8