On February 28th, 100 Special Olympics Philadelphia athletes came to Erie Lanes for the 27th Annual Bowling Tournament. The tournament started with the parade of athletes followed by the Frankford JROTC presenting the colors. Athletes Kirstyn Cantres and Teddy Angerman emceed Opening Ceremonies which included Director of Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia Britt Kleine saying a few words and “the man of a thousand voices”, Joe Conklin. During Opening Ceremonies, Fran Moore was recognized as she just became part of the newest class to the Special Olympics North America Coach of the Year. This award is given annually to a Special Olympics coach who has made a significant and demonstrable impact on local Special Olympics Programs and their communities. After a few more words, Kirstyn Cantres officially opened the games. Athletes bowled their way through three rounds as family and fans clapped and cheered. There were many spares and strikes and even some hard splits.
The following athletes received a gold medal:
| John Abbot | Kayla Atkins | Christine Benoit | Kaitlin Berkavzer |
| Jose Borrero | Barbara Borrero | Ian Capacio | Lafayette Charleston |
| Vincent Filograna | Meghan Garlick | Mitchell Gaskin | Matthew Grabowski |
| Kelsey Grinrod | Christina Guyton | Wesley Hicks | Marlen Johnson |
| Kevin Karcher | John Kulpa | Kevin Marshall | John Mitchell |
| Shawn Moton | Michael O’Donnell | Charles Rueter | Kyle Sheaff |
| Jeremiah Spruill | William Strausser | Richard Walston | Kayla Walter |
| Miachel Weinberg | Jennifer Wetzel | Elijah Williams | Joseph Yerkes |
| Edmund Zakrocki | Charles Zisette |
The following athletes received a silver medal:
| Raymond Anderson | Teddy Angerman | Ronald Atkins | Lisa Barbour |
| Ryan Bogan | Michael Castillo | Keith Collins | Christina Comerford |
| Stephen Dacyna | Genine DeNofa | William Devlin | Christina DiVergilis |
| Stanley Dluzniewski | Kelly Dluzniewski | Robert Duffy | Michael Esposito |
| Kim Ewing | Paul Fischer | Armand Garcia | Jason Green |
| Matthew Kossman | Demetrius LeFlore | Robert Lehr | Joseph Lestochi |
| Thomas Miller | Jenna Morse | Michael Mullen | Lamont Royals |
| Allison Ruitizer | James Shelton | Angie Smith | James Trotman |
| Bryan Zieglar |
The following athletes received a bronze medal:
| James Barbour | Russell Barndt | Kirstyn Cantres | Manny Cook |
| James Costello | James Curry | Jeffrey Dornblaster | Irwin Fox |
| Pam Galone | Lavar Gladden | Bob Kane | Brenndin LaGomarsino |
| Michael Marshall | Marcus Montgomery | Katie Moore | Stephen Price-Wright |
| Sharon Quarles | Sheila Stevens | Brian Stulz | David Brent Williams |
Frances Moore from our Philadelphia program has been recognized as a Special Olympics North America (SONA) 2015 Coach of the Year Finalist.The SONA Coach of the Year Award is given annually to a Special Olympics coach who has made a significant and demonstrable impact on local Special Olympics Programs and their communities.
As a Coach-of-the-Year recipient, Fran is in the company of the region’s finest coaches – true leaders and dedicated coaches who serve as role models to other coaches, inside and outside of Special Olympics. She has positively impacted athletes, family members and the community. We are grateful for her hard work, applaud her high standards of excellence, and admire her generosity of heart. Fran is now considered among SONA’s Coaching Dream Team that consists of 16 additional finalists and the Coach of the Year, Tom Norton from Canada.
Fran Moore pictured at center with SOPA Board Chairman Greg Stewart and President & CEO Matt Aaron, receiving her 2015 Coach of the Year Award during the Annual Leadership Conference.
Fran is an inspirational person with an enthusiastic attitude. Since she started volunteering for Special Olympics PA – Philadelphia a decade ago, she has served on the Management Team where she held the Family Coordinator position. Within that position, Fran lead the charge to solicit athlete input and take their feedback into consideration in all aspects of Special Olympics programming.
She believes that all athletes have a voice and should be heard. That is why she also serves as a mentor for her daughter Katie Moore, who is a Global Messenger. Through Fran’s efforts, four athletes now serve as mentors to their fellow teammates; and she has encouraged and mentored three other former aquatics athletes.
Fran is currently certified in soccer and aquatics where she trains over 100 athletes each week and dedicates every weekend to coach. As a physical therapist, Fran knows that eating healthy, training, and proper stretching are the keys to being a healthy athlete. She encourages her athletes to eat healthy and teaches them proper techniques to stretching before and after practices.
In addition to her commitment to our current athletes, families and volunteers, Fran is always in search of new coaches. Over the past several years, Fran has recruited more than 10 coaches to assist at aquatics trainings.
Fran has positively impacted the entire Philadelphia program, as evidenced by her receiving the 2015 Special Olympics Pennsylvania Coach of the Year Award.
Last night, at the Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Leadership Conference, individuals were recognized for their achievements within Special Olympics PA throughout the year during the annual awards banquet. Awards include Athlete of the Year, Partner of the Year, Program of the Year, etc. During this banquet, Philadelphia Beginner Swim Coach, Fran Moore named SOPA Coach of the Year! Fran has served as Aquatics Head Coach for 6 years. Every year she challenges the athletes (beginner to advanced) to step out of their comfort zone and try a new event. Over the years under Fran’s supervision and dedication we have had many athletes who started with no basic knowledge of swimming now be able to accomplish the breaststroke, backstroke, IM’s and even 800 meter freestyles. Fran is like a second mother to all the athletes. She listens when they have problems or need someone to listen. She reviews the Athlete Code of Conduct at least 4 times a season to ensure they know the rules and support one another in good sportsmanship.
Congratulations, Fran! We’re so lucky to have you as part of our Special Olympics Philadelphia family!
Click here for Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s recap of this year’s Leadership Conference Award Banquet as well as photos of all the winners!
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