This letter is concerning Larry Mitchell, who was a volunteer coach for our Special Olympic Team. We are very fortunate to have him for the past 16 years, and are very sad to see him leave.

Our team consists of over 40 athletes of varying ages (from 8-mid 50’s) and Larry has shown the ability to work well with all of them. He is willing to help out wherever he is needed, and has consistently proven himself to be a very responsible & effective coach.

Larry has helped coach our athletes with skiing and volleyball, and has been around to help out during other sports as well. Even when our scheduled practice was over he always took the time to stay longer and talk with our athletes or play a pick-up game with some of our athletes & other coaches.

Larry has taken the time to get to know our athletes and has worked one on one with them in training and has proven to be a very good role model. He has selflessly given up his weekends and days off to help our athletes and that is something I personally find commendable. In 1997 he gave up his personal vacation time from work to be a partner for one of our athletes in a Special Olympics competition in Canada. The years that Larry has volunteered with us have been invaluable and he is a valued member of our “team”.

Special Olympics is a wonderful program that offers athletes with mental retardation the opportunity to learn and compete in various sporting events. The coaches and volunteers are also special because it takes someone extraordinary to work with and coach athletes with varying degrees of mental retardation. Larry is definitely one of those extraordinary people! What he has given our athletes cannot be measured by any known scale, but the look on the athlete’s faces when their “Buddy” Larry is there when they win an award or learn something new is immeasurable.

Larry has gone above & beyond what is expected from a volunteer; he has become a friend to coaches and particularly to the athletes. Larry may not realize, but he is an important part of each of our lives and has helped and has helped to mold the spirit & unity that is part of our team.

Larry E. Doherty, JR
Sports Coordinator of Oxford Special Olympics
Beacon Falls, CT