By Daily Press staff
About 350 Special Olympics athletes will compete today in the inaugural Los Angeles Regional Games at Brentwood School, hosted by the students of Brentwood School and Westside Special Olympics.
The athletes, from Long Beach, South Bay, Los Angeles, the westside, Santa Clarita and Tri-Valley area programs, have been training regularly in their events, and will compete in track and field, golf and tennis.
The games are a part of the year-long competition offered by Special Olympics. Athletes compete throughout Southern California in 23 sports on a local level as well as regionally, in the summer and winter games, as well as internationally during the World Games.
The students of Brentwood School, many of whom have been working for months to coordinate all aspects of the event, including fund-raising, logistics, public relations and games management, will host the Los Angeles Regional Games.
Special Olympics Southern California serves more than 11,000 children and adults with mental retardation in an 11-county region of Southern California. The program offers sports training and competition in 23 individual and team sports on a year-round basis. Athletes range in age from 8 to 80. SOSC is one of 52 accredited Special Olympics entities operating in the United States. For more information about Special Olympics Southern California, visit its Web site at www.sosc.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 24, 2003. Read the original PDF.