The inaugural season of Sedona Red Rock High School’s Unified track and field team, the Sedona Red Rockers, ended on a high note at Special Olympics Arizona’s Summer Games, from Thursday to Saturday, May 3 to 5.

Aldo Lara-Ayala and Laura Landaverde, both Sedona Red Rock junior and senior high school special education students, and their partners took home some hardware from the competition, held at Glendale’s Raymond S. Kellis High School. More importantly, the Red Rockers program was successful outside the lines.

“Because of Special Olympics, they’ve gained confidence in themselves and their ability to do things that without Special Olympics they might not have been able to accomplish,” Red Rockers junior high coach Tiffany Wilson said. “They’ve grown by going and gaining a lot of confidence in themselves now. They know what accomplishment feels like and that success is attainable for them, even though they have a disability.”

Lara-Ayala and his partner, eighth-grader Jeremiah Parker, took first in the unified shot put and fifth in the 2 x 50 unified relay. Lara-Ayala won a silver medal in the 100-meter wheelchair race. He won gold in that event at the Mountain Area’s meet at Red Rock’s John Ordean Memorial Stadium on April 21.

Landaverde and Red Rock high school junior Victor Lara, Lara-Ayala’s older brother, finished third in the 2 x 50 unified relay. Landaverde won gold in the ball throw and bronze in the 100-meter dash.

Lara-Ayala demonstrated the positive effects that participating on the Unified team can have. Wilson said that at the start of the year, he was shy and only spoke with his close-knit group of friends. Such was also the case for Landaverde.
In front of the thousands present at the Summer Games, Lara-Ayala recited the athlete’s oath. He did the same before the area meet on April 21 as well.

“It’s been a very powerful experience, especially for Victor because he’s watched his brother go from being a very shy boy to being able to speak in front of thousands of people,” Wilson said.

The trip south, where according to Wilson they stayed in a hotel paid for by Special Olympics, marked the first time Lara-Ayala had ventured away from his parents. Landaverde’s mother accompanied them and lent a helping hand.

The athletes and their partners were able to have some extracurricular fun, too. Wilson told a story about them secretly ordering pizza to the hotel room, and how excited they were to do it.

“It was just really cool because it wasn’t anything like they can experience in a school system. They really grew from it,” Wilson said.

The competition site was complete with an Olympic Village. There, athletes played video games and virtual bowling, did crafts and ate shaved ice. Medical students from local universities volunteered their time to examine athletes’ eyes, ears and teeth.

Lara-Ayala, who wears glasses, will get a pair of competition goggles and a mouthguard, all free of charge.

The Red Rockers’ debut season was a successful one, and there are plans for expanding. Wilson said she has gotten certification to coach bocce ball, which the team will play this fall.

Next year the team will be eligible to compete in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Unified sports programs. Unified teams competed at the same location as the rest of the AIA’s four divisions during the state track and field championships the last two years.

As the program continues to grow, so will its athletes’ confidence.