Joining Special Olympics activities is all about getting together, getting fit and having a laugh – every week, all year round, writes ARMINTA WALLACE

THE YOUNGSTER stands poised beneath the net, clutching the ball to his chest. He hesitates, sways a little, his face a mask of concentration. Then he shoots – and scores a basket. Sunshine spreads across his face in a huge smile and he wheels away, arms raised in celebration as the onlookers break into a round of applause and shouts of triumph bounce around the high ceiling of the basketball court. “Yay!” “Well done!” “Way to go, Stephen . . .”

If you were to judge by the level of energy, enthusiasm and sheer noise you might think you had strayed into some kind of international tournament scenario. In fact, it’s Saturday afternoon at Cabra Parkside Community Sports Hall in Dublin’s north-west inner city, and the Cabra Lions Special Olympics basketball club is being put through its paces by coach Ger Molloy. The athletes have been working hard. They began with a spot of jogging around the court; then they practiced passing and team skills. Now they’re lined up in two rows to take turns at shooting baskets.

But mainly, they’re having a ball. There’s a palpable sense of camaraderie and plenty of good-humoured banter – all the more remarkable, considering that the club itself is scarcely more than a year old, and that it’s all organised and run by volunteers. “We started here a year ago in January with two members, Fiona and Jane,” says founder-member and chief volunteer Monica O’Toole, who comes along every Saturday with her husband Robert. “For a while we honestly thought it wouldn’t get off the ground at all. But word spread, and now we have 19 athletes of all ages who come on a regular basis.” They come from all around the Dublin 7 area; from Blanchardstown, from the Navan Road and from Manor Street.

For those who get involved in a Special Olympics club, the opportunities can be great. Linda Clowry has brought along some certificates, one of which records her participation at an international gathering in Holland in the summer of 2000, and a magazine. “My picture’s on the front,” she says. “Although look what they did with the photograph – you can only see half of me.”

Joseph Carolan produces three medals from his pocket. One is for basketball, one for football, and one for taking part in the torch run in Edinburgh. Joe Nagle is too shy to show off the clipping about his recent gold medal-winning exploits in the shot putt at the Munster and Leinster championships, but then he doesn’t have to be – it’s all documented on the internet at leevale.org/unique-treble-for-joe.

FOR MOST OFthe 10,000-plus athletes with intellectual disability who take part in Special Olympics activities in Ireland, however, it's not about aiming for the skies with the big international competitions. It's about getting together, getting fit and having a laugh – every week, all year round. For the athletes and their families these clubs provide a service of almost incalculable value, especially at a time when many services are facing severe trimming, if not outright cutbacks.

“We didn’t start off as a basketball club,” says Monica. “First of all we said we’d have a sports club. Then somebody said, ‘We’ve got a basketball coach’. So we said, ‘Okay – we’ll go for basketball’. But it’s not just basketball. It’s social as well. They’re walking round the park for half an hour before they begin, which is like a warm-up – and also it’s training for anyone who wants to can do the mini-marathon in June.

“You can actually see people getting fit – some of them have lost a load of weight. The extra exercise is great for them. We’ve also had a few outings. We’ve been bowling, and we’ve gone to the pictures a couple of times. It keeps them interested, and it’s great for the mammies.”

Yvonne O’Brien’s daughter, Deborah, is 32. “There’s nothing else in the area for her, and she was kind of clingy to me, I suppose,” she says. “So to get out and mix with other people is great for her. And it’s a big thing for me.”

At just 14, Gavin Murray is the youngest member of the club. “He doesn’t like coming some days,” says his mother Jacinta. “But I wanted him to get started in Special Olympics. Most of the people here are older, which is fine because they allow Gavin to do his own thing and join in as and how he wants to.” She reckons it would be great, though, if there were a few more members of his own age. “I’m canvassing for smaller children,” she says with a smile.

As it happens, Robert and Monica O’Toole also got involved in Special Olympics through their daughter. “She was working for Otis, the lift people, who were sponsors of Special Olympics,” Monica explains. “She went to Wales, around the year 2000 I think it was, and she came back absolutely thrilled. So off the bat, she just put me and her dad down as volunteers. Now Robert is the safety officer at Cabra Lions and I’m” – she chuckles softly at the grandeur of the title – “the treasurer.”

On a Saturday afternoon, “treasuring” means totting up the subscriptions. Each athlete pays €3 per session, which sorts out the basic expenses; but money certainly doesn’t grow on trees hereabouts. “We started with nothing,” she says. “Now a few of the parents are helping up to set up fund-raising and things like that.” One parent contributed a lump sum, and Dublin Bus came up with €1,000, which paid for a set of sky-blue polo shirts emblazoned with the legend “Cabra Lions”.

Monica says her next move will be to sort out tracksuits for everybody, plus the proper basketball kit of shorts and vests. “We need the kit,” she says. “We need an extra hour in the hall as well. You can see for yourself how quickly the time goes. We need an extra hour so the ones who needs a bit of extra help or extra coaching can get it.”

BACK ON THEcourt, the coach has divided the Lions into two for a training match. "I came to this club last September," says Eamon McDonald as he heads into the middle of the court, "but I've been playing for a good while in St Vincent's on the Navan Road. I'm glad of this, because I need a bit more exercise." Tall and leggy he looks, it must be said, like a born basketball player. Michael Morarasu is also tall, long-legged and very, very fast. "I'm from Ratoath Road," he says. "But I was born in Germany. My family is from Iasi in Romania."

The Lions lads, though, don’t have things all their own way. Lorrain Carey, her hair beautifully plaited on the back of her head, is also tall and slim and determined. And a beaming Fiona Byrne declares that she’s ready for action. “A few minutes ago you were tired,” says Monica.

“Well, I’m fantastic now,” is the reply. “I woke up this morning saying, ‘It’s a beautiful day – time to get training’.” As the final whistle approaches there’s just one point separating the teams, and the shouts of encouragement from the assembled spectators rise to fever pitch.

Shirley Daly isn’t playing today, but she’s cheering fit to burst for Fiona’s team, which is in the lead. I think I’ll cheer for the others, I say. I don’t like to see anyone lose. From the touchline Robert O’Toole turns and grins at us. “No losers here,” he points out. “Just runners up.”

Success story 'Our motto is, "changing lives". That's what it's all about'

There are approximately 35,000 people with intellectual disability in Ireland, of whom about 10,000 take part in Special Olympics programmes in more than 400 sports clubs around the country. “That’s over 30 per cent, which is fantastic,” says the new chief executive of Special Olympics Ireland, Matt English. “If you look at mainstream populations, about 40 per cent of people are involved in sport - so we’re not doing too badly. But we’d still like to reach out to the people who aren’t yet part of a club.”

Ireland is seen as one of the big success stories on the international scene, so much so that English’s predecessor, Mary Davis, has just been appointed managing director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia.

The challenge for English is to keep the Irish branch of the organisation on the upward curve it has maintained since the World Games was held here six years ago.

“As an organisation we’re funded to the tune of 30 per cent by the government,” he says.

“And understandably, like all other organisations at the moment we face a 10 per cent cut in funding for 2009. This puts increased pressure on us to fundraise.

“We don’t run lavish balls or anything like that, but over the coming 10 weeks our co-ordinators in every country will be running numerous small events – quizzes, casual days at school, karaoke nights, everything you could think of will be happening in towns all over Ireland. We would be delighted to get people involved in those activities.”

There’ll also be an all-Ireland collection on April 24th.

Like many people, English first became aware of Special Olympics through a family member with intellectual disability.

“Sadly, my brother died about 10 years ago,” he says.

“He loved sport; athletics and aquatics. I grew up in Wexford in a family of nine. We had a real sports tradition in our house, and my brother was part of that.

“Parents – naturally – worry when a child has an intellectual disability. How will they fit in?

What will they achieve?

What we find is that as people with intellectual disability get involved with sport they make friends, they get fitter, they gain in confidence, and the positive impact for the whole family is tremendous.

“Our motto is, ‘changing lives’. That’s what it’s all about. The glamour events – the world games and so forth – will always grab the headlines. But really,what's important is how it changes lives at every level, week in and week out."

For further information on clubs throughout Ireland, see specialolympics.ie