Eighteen years ago, Ria Trotta-Violano saw that her daughter, a person with special needs, wanted to participate in competitive swimming. They both found out about the North Haven chapter of the Special Olympics and “got hooked” from her first swimming competition. She’s been deeply involved in the event ever since.

“The majority of my volunteering is really around the Special Olympics. That’s pretty much my life. It’s like a big extended family.”

Violano says that once someone “gets hooked” on being a part of the Special Olympics, it is difficult not to be taken by how powerful the event can be for its athletes, their friends and family, and other spectators.

“I used to go and just get so emotional like when we were at the competition, just like, get so emotional, and cry, because it was just so overwhelmingly joyful.”

Violano has been a coordinator for North Haven’s Special Olympics since 2019, and since then, it’s been an event for the whole family, not just her daughter.

“I always volunteered; all the parents would always do stuff like they’re staying overnight, we’d all cook stuff, or we’d go, of course, watch all the competitions, bring them to the rigor to whatever needs to be done,” she says. “And then…my whole family got involved, like my husband coaches, I would do whatever was needed. My sons would be partners; one of my son’s girlfriends helps. My daughter-in-law did it.”

One of the biggest values that the Special Olympics brings to its participants is offering the opportunity for its competitors’ meaningful social connections through ultimately amicable competition.

“Some athletes… there’s not a lot that they may have to do. For the athletes, it’s valuable where they make those social connections; they get exercise, they’re around their peers,” she says. “They might have some words with one another or be upset with one another for something, and then two seconds later, they’re hugging it out. There’s no judgment. There’s none of that. And it’s fabulous.”

The underlying value of friendship in the games extends to establishing those parents and caregivers of athletes with special needs, like Violano, regardless of their age, since children and adults as old as 66 participate.

“The parents and the caregivers, they also network with one another, and they find things that help with their situations for their special needs person that is in their life.”

To get volunteers for the Special Olympics, Violano will connect with students at North Haven School to come to the Recreational Center for practices, who can receive volunteer hours for their work with athletes.

“They get to experience what it’s like to volunteer, helping to add value to somebody else’s life. And they always do a very good job. While they’re there, they mesh with the athletes. It’s like they’re just peers. Which they should be, and they are,” Violano says.

Above all, she has seen directly during her involvement with the event how genuinely integral participation in the Special Olympics is for its athletes: they are exceptionally passionate competitors who are always proud to be a part of it, win, lose, or draw. What matters most is that they did it.

“Everything matters, win, lose, or even if they just didn’t do anything spectacular. That verbal recognition that they did a great job, regardless of what it was, is. It’s priceless,” Violano says.

The zeal Special Olympic athletes possess for the games means that, like their families, volunteers, and spectators, they are also taken emotionally by what this means in their lives. If they never medaled before, or got just silver or bronze, it is irrelevant when Violano sees the overwhelming joy they get from their accomplishment.

That phenomenon is not just limited to North Haven, as Violano remembers during the national Special Olympics World Games in June of last year.

“I was chosen and had the opportunity to go to Orlando with the Special Olympics for the national game they call ‘World Games.’ And I didn’t know any of the athletes; they’re from all over the state. One girl [won] for gymnastics: she got her gold medal, and she literally did like this dance—it still sticks out in my head of just, you know, the pure joy and happiness,” she says.

While there is a lot of work and coordination that goes into organizing everything leading up to the games and then putting on the competition itself with its 126 local participants, Violano still understands the meaning of the Special Olympics for its athletes and its enrichment in their lives as people who do not give up despite their difficulties.

“Being able to give them something to look forward to and to help them in their journey —that brings me joy.”