Special Olympics Delaware serving up smiles in a tennis tournament at Sea Colony

BETHANY BEACH, Del.- Athletes were serving, backhanding, and smashing all the tennis balls on the court Thursday, but it was more than a tournament.

“It’s just amazing being able to spread the joy of the game and see all of the smiles on their faces,” Ethan Garren, Head Pro and Junior Coordinator at Sea Colony, said.

If you stood on the Sea Colony tennis courts Thursday afternoon in Bethany Beach, you’d hear cheering and tennis balls hitting racquets. A couple of members from Special Olympics Delaware put on their athletic gear and grabbed their Sea Colony Tennis coaches to go against one another, as spectators had their eyes glued on the competition.

“Well, sometimes I’m nervous but I take a deep breathe and then I serve and then I just have fun,” Katya Bowers, one of the participants, said.

Sea Colony partners with Sussex Riptide Special Olympics to give them opportunities like this one; which lets those a part of Special Olympics show off their skills in a variety of ways.

“Sea Colony for us is just the greatest thing because we use their tennis courts, never a question, we use their swimming pool, never a problem,” Marie McIntosh, the Special Olympics Tennis Coach, said.

“I think a lot of other people with disabilities should try different sports like bowling and swimming and mostly tennis,” Bowers said.

And, we’re told having the support of not only Sea Colony, but those watching, means so much.

“Now you’re going to make me cry, it’s just so nice you know to have event like this in our community where people get to see our athletes in action,” McIntosh said.

“We all have a daily job we do and to be able to do this as something so nice and so rewarding we have such friendships,”  Alex Justiniani, Director of Racquet Sports with Sea Colony, said.

“To see how much it means to them too is any coaches dream that’s how I feel,” Garren said.

While this event is a special one, it’s leading into a bigger tournament this weekend that’s going to benefit Sussex Riptide Special Olympics. “Over 275 players come to play, participate, 50 plus spectators, so it’s over 300 people; so we’re able to donate over $3,000 at the end of the weekend,” Justiniani said.

The weekend tournament will include both tennis and pickle-ball matches starting on Friday and going until Sunday.