Bowling for medals
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 8, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
From left, Tyler Edmundson, Debra Newman, Emily Crawford and Alan Jenkins pose for a photo before bowling practice at Boulevard Lanes Thursday. The two teams, Edmundson and Newman as The Pin Pals and Jenkins and Crawford as Beauty and the Beast, will compete in the Special Olympics USA National Unified Bowling Tournament in Nevada later this year.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Don Jenkins talks about his son Alan's involvement in the Special Olympics Wayne County. Don is the bowling coach for his son's team.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Tyler Edmundson, center, and Alan Jenkins bowl at Boulevard Lanes Thursday.
There is a towel stuffed into his back left pocket.
He slides a glove onto his right hand -- a glove that is fingerless at the ring and middle finger.
He says it allows him better control over the bowling ball.
To drive the point home, Alan Jenkins, 29, sets his stance, strides forward, and slings the ball directly down the center of the lane at a high rate of speed.
Strike.
For anyone who knows Alan, this comes as no surprise.
He is, after all, an Olympian.
But he isn't just any athlete.
Alan is a member of Wayne County's Special Olympics bowling team -- a group that, on March 3, will travel to El Paso, Texas, to compete in the Special Olympics National Unified Tournament.
For Alan, the event will mark the second time he has competed at the national level for bowling, and his father, Don, will coach the team to what they all hope will be a gold medal finish to the season.
"I love that we're going to nationals," said Alan's teammate, Tyler Edmundson, 20. "Yes sir. I'm excited. I think we'll win a gold medal."
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Alan would tell you that his partner is a beauty.
"Our team name for the doubles competition is 'Beauty and the Beast,'" he said. "Some people might not like it, but I don't care what they think. I always say she's the beauty and I'm the beast."
His partner, Emily Crawford, 23, is "unified" -- a teammate that is not special needs, but volunteers her with the Special Olympics of Wayne County to aid the athletes and help coach them.
Ms. Crawford first met Alan her senior year of high school while she was working at the local YMCA.
Alan and Tyler were shooting basketball.
"She came up to us and said she just had to get involved somehow," Don said. "She does it just because she really, truly loves it. That's the whole reason. She's just got an incredibly big heart."
Ms. Crawford's role as Alan's teammate means she is able to provide in-the-moment coaching when the team coach is unable to provide guidance -- a role that will be crucial to their success at nationals.
"Whenever we're bowling together, she'll tell me what I'm doing wrong so I can correct it," Alan said. "And if she starts messing up, I can tell her, 'OK, move a little to this side and adjust how you throw it.' I'm glad she's here. I wouldn't trade another partner for her."
Ms. Crawford said she wouldn't trade her experience helping the Special Olympics athletes for the world.
"It really is the best, most rewarding gift to be able to help them," she said. "It's really hard to describe what it means to me."
The national tournament is serious business.
"When everybody's bowling, nobody talks to each other and everybody is very focused," Alan said.
Tyler will compete in the doubles games with his partner, Debra Newman.
They call themselves the "Pin Pals."
"I think I'll do a good job in El Paso," he said. "I'm just going to bowl and do my very best and focus."
But after the games are finished, the real fun begins.
"There's a big dance party after the tournament where everybody goes and hangs out with each other," Alan said. "We trade pins with each other from our organizations. It's really cool."
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There is no diagnosis for Alan -- nor is there official word from any specialist or doctor as to what condition he has.
"Growing up, we noticed he was slower than most," his father said. "On the third day of kindergarten, his teacher called us and told us his motor skills were slower than the rest of his classmates. We went to multiple doctors in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Wilmington, Greenville, everywhere -- they ran all kinds of tests -- and none of them were able to diagnose him with anything. Eventually, the last doctor we took him to said, 'This is how God made him. Take him home, love him and push him to do the best he can do and he will.'"
And that is exactly what Alan has done.
He is a firefighter with the Grantham Volunteer Fire Department and even has his own driver's license.
"He hasn't had any accidents or tickets in the five years he has been driving," his father said. "He does basically anything anyone else can do. He reads well, he writes OK, but he has no concept of how money works."
The Special Olympics has been invaluable in Alan's life, his father said.
"His self-esteem used to be terrible, I mean really low," he said. "He used to be picked on and prodded and all that, but when he picked up sports with the Special Olympics, his self-esteem skyrocketed. It's his outlet for everything going on in his life."
Alan's co-workers at the fire department have also been key in providing him with confidence and meaning.
"I want to make sure I say this. The guys down at the fire station have been incredibly supportive of me," Alan said. "Last time I went to nationals ... in 2011, they put 'Congratulations Alan' on the board at the station in real big letters. They've been very supportive of me."
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Wayne County's Special Olympics bowling team hasn't missed a beat in their season -- even after the city and county refused to provide funding for an events coordinator position to help organize all the athletes in the organization.
But there will be no basketball this year for the athletes.
"The former events coordinator and his wife were also coaches for the basketball team," Jenkins said. "They were great and they have done an incredible amount for this organization. When they took over, the organization was nearly broke, but they turned it around and gave us one of the biggest and best Special Olympics organizations in the state. I absolutely understand why they stepped down after serving for so long. It was time. For the basketball season, if we would've had a coordinator, we probably would've found a coach in time. But we didn't."
And in the future, more trouble is on the horizon for the Special Olympics in Wayne County.
"State by-laws say that the Special Olympics can't operate without a coordinator," Jenkins said. "We've had a lot of people step up and help to keep it running, but we have to do something."
But despite the looming challenges, the organization's leaders -- and its athletes -- are maintaining their spirit of perseverance.
"We won't lay down," Jenkins said. "We're not done. We're not going to be stopped. And I hope the city and the county step up to the plate. I want the public to be aware that we are not receiving funding from the county and the city, but that we're only receiving it from private organizations and donations right now."