The Greater Los Angeles Area Special Olympics recently celebrated its 12th set of games.

Hosted by Loyola High School in Los Angeles, the day began on Smith Field with the Olympic torch being carried by Cubs' longtime head football coach Steve Grady and junior football players Sinclair and Sebastian Ridley Thomas. This torch run was followed by a parade of competing delegations composed of 700 special-ability athletes from South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and West Los Angeles as well as the Hollywood, Crenshaw and Pico Union neighborhoods.

Athletes competed in a variety of sports, including track and field, aquatics, basketball and bocce ball.

Loyola's 315 freshmen served as the front line volunteers, with another 150 Loyola students, alumni, parents and staff hosting nearly all aspects and venues of the daylong event. The Loyola volunteer effort was complemented by students from Notre Dame Academy.

"Awesome experience!" said Loyola principal Bill Thomason. "Our young Cubs, as well as the Loyola parents, alumni and staff were superb. This high-spirited event is a great service experience for the whole school community, especially the freshman class. I am very impressed by everyone from our school and by the girls from the cooperating school who pitched in to make this a successful experience for our guest Olympians."

This Greater Los Angeles Area games served as the qualifying event for the Southern California Summer Games, which will be held on June 12-13 at Cal State University in Long Beach, and in turn for the national and international games conducted over the next year. The next International Special Olympic Games will be held in Asia in 2005.