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Everyone would agree that volunteers are the engine that runs Special Olympics World Games or any Special Olympics competition, for that matter. But, it’s the athletes that fuel their passion and for Takuro Horikawa, from Japan, it’s a labor of love that has deep personal meaning.
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Takuro Horikawa travels six hours to volunteer at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. "To supply the opportunity for them to be stars ... it's like a treasure," he says. |
“My sister has Down syndrome and she really wanted to compete in World Winter Games here in Japan, but she couldn’t because she joined too late to qualify to compete. However, our friend is competing in snowshoeing, and I was supposed to come with my family to cheer for him. But I thought it would be better to work as a volunteer than just watching and cheering.”
Horikawa volunteers at the media center at Hakuba Snow Harp, the venue for cross country skiing, where he works with the press and distributes information. He thinks the World Games are fantastic. “I didn’t expect that much, but the athletes touch my heart and it’s great. I am proud of being involved and being here,” he said.
And it wasn’t an easy trek for him to get to the Games. Horikawa lives six hours away, but he believes it was worth it. “You know, I don’t want to say they are special, but the Special Olympics athletes are just so great. To supply the opportunity for them to be stars, they just shine, they just touch your heart, they make me cry. I don’t cry when I see movies, you know, those tear-jerker movies, but I just cry when the athletes finish. It’s like a treasure. I really appreciate it and I love it.”
Horikawa was one of 10,900 people who volunteered for World Games. The oldest volunteer was 80 years old and the youngest, 15.Yoshiaki Matsukura, Director of the Volunteer Services for the 2005 World Games, said that recruitment began in April 2003.
“We needed 4,500 Games volunteers volunteers each day, and we asked for a minimum commitment of four days. Language volunteers made up 20 percent of the total number of volunteers and we recruited them from universities, embassies and foreign companies doing business in Japan,” said Matsukura. “Forty percent of the volunteers live outside of Nagano, and they traveled at their own expense and paid for their own accommodations,” he added.
It’s remarkable for a country that doesn’t have a volunteer culture. “Many of the volunteers at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games are the same ones who volunteered at the 1998 Olympic Games. The Olympic Games marked the first time these people had ever volunteered,” said Matsukura.
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