Melissa Walton, a senior associate athletic director for Albion College, has taken on a new challenge during this spring semester – coaching the Special Olympics Area 19 volleyball team from Jackson County as it prepares for the state games at the end of the month.
Walton has been trying to have a volleyball team represent the area in the Special Olympics, but didn’t have enough players until this year.
“My aunt worked for the national [Special Olympics] office in Washington D.C., so I have been working for Special Olympics since I was 5,” says Walton, “but this is my first time working in this area.” Walton ran the power lifting event for the Special Olympics when she was working at Central Michigan University.
Each Monday night, the eight members of the team are brought to Kresge Gymnasium for a two-hour practice, which normally starts with running laps, and then transitions to brief passing drills with partners, and eventually leads into a scrimmage.