Ohio District Creates Event for Athletes with Disabilities

The Central Buckeye Conference in Ohio is hosting an Olympics-style event for athletes with disabilities.

On May 3, Bellefontaine High School will host the first CBC Cup at the school’s AccuSport Stadium. According to the Springfield News-Sun, the event will welcome 80 athletes representing all 12 CBC schools from five counties, including Kenton Ridge, Northwestern, Shawnee and Tecumseh from Clark County.

Matt Comstock, Bellefontaine athletic director, came up with the idea for the event.

“I saw some of our local Special Olympics athletes playing and I really enjoyed how much they were enjoying practicing,” he told the News-Sun. “I took the idea to the group and everybody was on board. They all agreed we should be doing something like this. We took the idea and ran with it.”

Comstock said that some of the athletes already compete in the Special Olympics but noted that the event will allow them to represent their school in a way similar to a more traditional high school sporting event.

“Our kids that are going to be competing are some of the kids with the most school spirit we have, they’re always at our events in our (student section) cheering and enjoying sports,” Comstock said. “To me, it’s a great opportunity to give them a chance to be the stars for a day.”

The games will include seven different events, including the 100-meter dash, Basketball Hot Shot, Softball Home Run Derby, Frisbee Toss, Soccer Goal Kick, Bean Bag Toss and Football Target Toss — broken down into three 40-minute periods. Each athlete can compete in up to three different events. It will also include lunch donated by Easton Water Solutions of Bellefontaine and an awards ceremony.