The Midland Police Department (MPD) participated alongside other West Texas law enforcement agencies in the Special Olympics Area 18 Basketball Competition, held on the campus of Odessa College in Odessa on February 1.
According to a February 6 Facebook post by MPD, officers enjoyed supporting the athletes. "Nothing but net and nonstop smiles," the post read.
According to the Special Olympics Texas (SOTX) website, participants in the event had been training for eight weeks. The nonprofit organization conducted the competition across more than five areas throughout the state, with 11,318 athletes taking part.
SOTX said that basketball ranks as its third most popular sport after athletics and bowling. It is a favorite of SOTX Unified Sports, where players with and without intellectual disabilities form teams to compete against other unified teams.
Special Olympics Texas was established in June 1969 following Eunice Kennedy Shriver's initiative of holding a summer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her home in Maryland six years earlier. The organization achieved non-profit status in 1978.