ParkTalk Podcast: Recreation for All – Support Special Olympics

Friday, June 5, 2026

Episode Description

Special Olympics supports athletes with special needs across the country. Learn how Naperville Park District and their partners at Western DuPage Special Recreation Association support Special Olympics Illinois and their participants in recreational programs.

Quotes from the Episode

Overview of WDSRA’s relationship with Special Olympics:

We provide programs in recreation sports that compete at the region, state and national level with Special Olympics. We have multiple sports – basketball, football, soccer, softball, individual sports and unified sports, which is athletes competing with people without disabilities. – Ryan Fleck

Benefits of partnership between Naperville Park District and WDSRA:

We utilize them for quite a bit. Without them, we don’t have facilities to play at. We utilize Fort Hill for our basketball programs, Commissioners and Frontier Park for our softball and soccer programs. – Ryan Fleck

They (Naperbrook and Springbrook Golf Courses) have been really great to us. This is our third year with them, and right out the gate, they’re giving us buckets at the range, tee times – it’s been really good. – Phil Eide

Impact Special Olympics has on the special needs community:

Special Olympics offering all those programs gives our guys an opportunity to compete. They might go to their local park district, they might not get on a team, but Special Olympics gives them an outlet to participate in sports that they enjoy. – Ryan Fleck

They’re given gold, silver, bronze and fourth place ribbons, so they might walk away with something, they also might not. If they get a gold, they earned that gold, and if they got a silver, they have to learn how to lose. It’s cool they’re learning sports, they’re sweating, they’re exercising, they’re learning skill like how to be teammates and how to lose – social skills that translate to real life. – Phil Eide