Pair to represent Walton County in Athens Special Olympics

It was three years ago that Greg Floyd first picked up a bocce ball. Never in his wildest dreams could he have envisioned how far it would take him.

Floyd will be one of two members of Special Olympics Florida — Walton County to compete in the XIII Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece next summer. Joining Floyd, who will compete in International Bocce Ball Singles, is Patricia “Patty” Douglas, who qualified to run in both the 800-meter run and 1500-meter run.

The pair’s selection was announced by the Special Olympics Florida board during a conference meeting in Orlando last week. According to Louise Guice-Conner, who attended the conference as the Director of Games with Special Olympics of Florida–Walton County, the announcement was of historical significance for the local chapter.

“We have never had two (athletes) out of Walton County make it,” Guice-Conner said. “We had never had one out of Walton County go international. Being their coach and the games director for Walton County, I was ecstatic.”

Floyd’s name was entered into the selection pool after placing second at the State Summer Games earlier this year, while Douglas’ inclusion in the selection process came after earning a pair of first-place finishes at the same State Summer Games.

For Floyd, news of his selection came as both a surprise and a welcome sign of progress after picking up the sport just a short time ago. Having tired of playing volleyball, Floyd said the decision to delve into the new sport was made purely out of a desire to find a new challenge.
In Bocce, a game whose roots delve all the way back to the Roman Empire, Floyd found just that.

In Bocce, which can be played with two, four or eight players, a small ball called a pallino is first tossed onto the playing surface. Then, whoever tossed the pallino tosses the first bocce ball in an attempt to land closest to the pallino. Each player gets eight tries and after every player has exhausted their attempts, the player whose ball landed closest to the pallino wins.

“The pallino is the hardest,” Floyd said. “You have to get it just right.”

And while Floyd is a relative newcomer to Bocce, Douglas has been running for as long as Guice-Conner can remember. A member of the Special Olympics Walton County for 40 years, Douglas cited the interaction with fellow runners as her favorite thing about the sport and the opportunity to compete in Greece. After winning both the 800 and 1500-meter runs at the State Summer Games earlier this year, Douglas was also quick to point out it didn’t hurt to win either.

“I like to win,” Douglas said. “I want to win and leave (the other runners) behind.”

If there was one aspect of being selected to compete in next summer’s Special Olympic Games that did rattle Douglas, it was the prospect of flying for the first time. Fortunately, Douglas will have an experienced and willing co-passenger to help soothe whatever nerves she may have about the 7,000-mile trip from California, where the pair will train prior to the Games, to Greece.

“I’ll have to help her out and keep her from being so nervous,” Floyd said. “Maybe she can sit across from me or something like that.”