KWOS Jefferson City News Authority
68 Special Olympics Missouri campers are in Jefferson City again today and Friday for the 27th annual Gary Brimer sports camp.
The week-long camp is taking place at the state-of-the-art Training for Life campus near Highway 54. Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) training director Susan Shaffer tells 939 the Eagle that the campers are involved in sports, crafting and life skills programs, which help them to become more independent.
“It gives them the opportunity to stay away from home and to be without parents and learn to from making your bed in the morning, getting dressed without mom and dad’s assistance to showering to become more independent in those types of atmospheres,” Shaffer says.
35 of this year’s 68 campers are newcomers. The Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Christian Athletes visited the camp on Tuesday to play sports alongside the campers.
SOMO has renamed its June sports camp in Jefferson City in honor of its longtime director of sports and training who died in 2020, after battling cancer. Mr. Brimer began with Special Olympics Missouri in 1976 and started as a volunteer before becoming director of sports and training. Ms. Shaffer tells 939 the Eagle that he had vision.
“And that vision was to get athletes to live the best of their life and ability to show people around Missouri or around the world what they could do on and off the playing field,” she says.
Schaffer says Gary Brimer was also instrumental in starting this camp.
“He was the one that dreamt between him and Mark Musso that we could have a sports camp for kids and adults to come and learn new sports. And they’ll learn those life skills and become more independent and show people what they could do,” Shaffer says.
The campers are also enhancing their sports skills in a friendly and encouraging environment.
