By Erin Holloway, Special Olympics Colorado Athlete Leader

Forrest Phillips has been interested in working with people with disabilities all her life. She grew up living next door to a young man named Allen who was constantly bullied in the neighborhood. Forrest said her goal as a kid was to grow up and become a brain surgeon so she could fix Allen’s brain and he could become “normal like everyone else,” and not get bullied. Allen helped Forrest become interested in helping others with disabilities.

Forrest learned about Special Olympics Colorado while attending school at Colorado State University in 1979 when someone came into their class and asked for volunteers for Special Olympics track and field. 

After that, Forrest was hooked and wanted to continue to be part of Special Olympics Colorado. She then began volunteering at track practices and chaperoning at the Air Force Academy for State Summer Games in the 1980s. She became the Competitions Coordinator at State Summer Games, where she was in charge of the wheelchair games. Forrest later started taking on larger roles, such as becoming the food coordinator for State Winter Games and State Summer Games for several years. “I didn’t know a lot about sports and I had never participated in sports, and I felt challenged by my athletes to learn new sports,” Forrest explained. 

Forrest says one of her proudest moments as a volunteer was going to Special Olympics World Games with a Special Olympics athlete named Garth, who was legally blind and deaf. He learned to walk on the track with a rope and a baton and also knew to start when he was touched. He then knew to stop when his hand was touched by someone at the other end. They were featured on the television program Wide World of Sports with their rope and baton. 

Because of her dedication, Forrest was inducted into the Special Olympics Colorado Hall of Fame as the 1995 Coach of the Year. She felt it was a personal reward for the time she spent working with the athletes. It was at Hall of Fame that Forrest was offered a job to become a Special Olympics Colorado Area Coordinator. Her role was covering 32 local programs that included schools, a rec center and independent programs in the community. She also helped coordinate programs, fundraising and competitions, as well as helping with transportation for athletes and team. Any needs that anyone had, Forrest was there to help.

“I enjoyed working with the athletes and building friendships,” said Forrest on her time working at Special Olympics Colorado. “I enjoyed watching my athletes do things they thought they couldn’t do.” For example, Forrest explained that one of her softball teams had never played before and they practiced 3 times a week but weren’t understanding the game. By the time they went to the State Competition, Forrest said everything clicked. “They were able to play a game they had never played before,” she said. 

In addition to volunteering and coaching, Forrest also became a Unified partner. She felt that by being a Unified partner, she could help improves athletes’ skills. “Having a coach on the floor with them to help guide and direct them was an opportunity [for me] as a Unified partner to help athletes reach higher goals,” Forrest explained.