NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – It’s an early Saturday morning, but instead of sleeping in after a hard week at work, Mark Fondren is prepping his basketball team for tournament competition.

Fondren, an integrated production team lead in the V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA 275), can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Fondren was at Oakdale High School in Ijamsville, Md., on March 23 for the 2013 Special Olympics Maryland State Basketball Tournament. The tournament is one of many for Fondren, who has helped Special Olympic athletes in St. Mary’s county for the past eight years.

The Special Olympic motto is “Let me win; but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt,” and Fondren knows firsthand about bravery. His son, Joshua, is a Special Olympian.

Joshua was born with Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS), a birth disorder characterized by a port-wine stain birthmark and nervous system problems. Symptoms can include seizures, paralysis or weakness on one side and learning disabilities.

Fondren said his son’s special ability is right-side weakness.

“He started off playing mainstream soccer, but he couldn’t keep up with the other kids,” Fondren said.

“We [him and his wife Sharon] definitely appreciate the value and importance of team sports and we wanted to keep him participating so we tried Special Olympics and he just loved it,” Fondren said.

Air Force 2^nd Lt. Nicholas Bixby, also from PMA-275, is one of Fondren’s assistant basketball coaches. Bixby’s older brother, Jason, who lives in Philadelphia, has Down syndrome,  a genetic condition in which the person is born with 47 chromosomes instead of 46. Its symptoms vary from person to person and can range from mild to severe.

Bixby, a development project manager for the Air Force version of the V-22, has been involved with the Special Olympics for as long as he can remember.

“Jason and I had always played basketball in the alley, and I just started helping out with his team,” said Bixby, whose parents remain heavily involved with Special Olympics in Philadelphia.

Bixby believes most of the people involved in Special Olympics are family members of the athletes.

“I think, maybe, 90 percent are family members or relatives of those with special needs,” Bixby said.

Fondren agrees, but said he’s always looking for more help.

“I’m always recruiting volunteers to help,” Fondren said.  “It is how [Bixby] got connected to the program here in St. Mary’s County.”

Fondren said volunteers can come from some unlikely routes.

“A lot of time people have to perform community service for some reason or another and they tend to volunteer after their time is finished.”

Both agree their participation in Special Olympics pays out ten-fold over the time and effort they put into it.

”It’s rewarding and it’s not a huge time commitment,” Bixby said. “It’s a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday or a day for the tournaments. It’s really about seeing the kids progress in their skills, overcome challenges and building on that sense of pride and accomplishment.”

Fondren said the Special Olympics has boosted his son’s self-confidence, enlarged his circle of friends and he would probably volunteer if his son didn’t participate.

“I really do love coaching these kids,” he said.

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for persons eight years of age and older with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

(Source: Special Olympics Maryland Website at http://www.somd.org/about-us.html)

For Special Olympics volunteer opportunities in St. Mary’s County, visit www.stmarysso.org/ or call 301-373-3469.