News
ACHIEVERS
Volunteer led the effort to start Heartland Winter Games
The Kansas City Star
Who
John Cassidy, 70, of Overland Park.
Accomplishment
On March 27, Cassidy will receive the National Humanitarian Award for 2004 from the American Veterans National Ladies Auxiliary for his leadership in organizing the Special Olympics Heartland Winter Games.
What he did
Cassidy spearheaded efforts to introduce winter sports into Kansas Special Olympics when he was president of the Kansas City Ski Club in 1984. Volunteers from the club had assisted with the state program's summer games, which prompted Cassidy to inquire whether athletes could be offered a winter sports program.
First, he and other volunteers taught athletes cross-country skiing, using the carpeted halls at Johnson County Community College. When snow fell — “It snowed in Kansas City back then,” Cassidy says — the instructors let their students try their luck in the real thing.
For six years, Kansas City Ski Club members took athletes to Colorado to compete in winter games there. When the Snow Creek ski area opened in Weston, Cassidy led efforts to establish winter games in Kansas. The first winter games in 1990 included three events — downhill skiing, speed skating and figure skating — and attracted about 40 athletes.
After a couple of years, Cassidy said the Kansas program invited athletes from Missouri to participate, and the games have grown steadily since then, adding athletes and events. This year, more than 300 athletes from six states attended the Heartland Winter Games, which is one of two regional events for Special Olympians in the United States.
What he says
Cassidy's background in executive management and administration means that he's not content with being an observer when he joins a group. “I just want to get my fingers in the pie and help with the organization and provide service wherever I can,” he said. “But the real joy of Special Olympics is working with athletes, seeing the tremendous growth that they accomplish just from being involved with a sports training program.”
The last word
Cassidy recently was elected vice chairman of the United States Leadership Council, which serves as an advisory group for Special Olympics. And he's in line to coach downhill skiing for the Special Olympics World Winter Games to be held in Nagano, Japan, next year.
— Melodee Hall Blobaum/The Star