DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997               TAG: 9704050221

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   43 lines

700 READY FOR SPECIAL OLYMPIC GAMES MORE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE IN THE SUFFOLK SCHOOL DISTRICT'S NEW PROGRAM.

The chairwoman of the citywide Special Olympic Games has kind of a nice problem to solve.

She's worried about finding enough parking for the 250 volunteers who have offered to help the 700 students scheduled to compete April 18 at Oscar F. Smith High School.

``We're in real good shape,'' said Carolyn Herbert, a special education administrator who is organizing the games, which are not affiliated with the Special Olympics, for the school district. She said since she began organizing the event last July, volunteers have been coming out of the woodwork, from school employees to local businesses to parents to civic groups.

That's good news for the district, which is organizing the event for the first time. Previous games have been organized by the Special Olympics, a private nonprofit organization that offers a program of competitive sports for physically and mentally challenged athletes. But last year, the school district decided to organize a similar event that would allow more students to participate than those who are eligible for the Special Olympics.

Participation in the Special Olympics is generally limited to athletes with mental and/or physical disabilities, leaving out students who might have learning disabilities, emotional difficulties or speech impairments, said Herbert. The district decided to open up the games to the 4,100 students in the district who qualify for special education - of which 700 students, ranging in age from 2 to 22, have signed up.

``There are so many children that still don't have the opportunity to excel in sports,'' said Herbert. ``We don't want to isolate that to one population or another.''

Herbert said they decided to keep a name that was similar to Special Olympics so people would know that this is a similar track and field event, though she added that eventually the name may be changed to the Special Games.

Herbert said members of the public can watch the events, which run from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. - with a rain date of April 25 - but, she added, they may have trouble parking.

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