Shumard
looks ahead to Special Olympics
By
Elena Encarnacion
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Cal State Long Beach Executive Director of Athletics Bill Shumard will step
down from the position he has held for 10 years on July 30 and take over as
chief executive officer of Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) on Aug.
1.
There he will work fundraising and spreading awareness for this non-profit
organization that provides athletic training for over 11,000 persons with intellectual
disabilities from San Diego to San Luis Obispo counties.
While she will miss working with him, Cindy Masner, CSULB senior associate
athletics director, thinks this new position will be a great opportunity for
Shumard.
“[Shumard has] the leadership and the ability to bring people together
and move forward toward a common goal,” Masner said.
SOSC’s goal is to be recognized as a first rate sports organization above
anything else, and Shumard is dedicated to this task. His hope is to provide
a high quality athletic experience to a larger percentage of the population
of people with intellectual disabilities.
In order to accomplish this, he plans to gain more financial support.
Shumard, who has been on the Board of Directors of SOSC since 1999, will be
replacing current CEO Bob Gobrecht, who was appointed two years ago at Shumard’s
recommendation.
Having known Shumard for almost six years, Gobrecht feels his compassion, great
communication and teaching skills, as well as his qualities as a “very
good sports manager” make him “uniquely qualified” for the
job.
“His value system will serve him well with this position,” said Gobrecht,
who taught in the sports management graduate program at CSULB from 2001 to 2004.
According to Shumard and Gobrecht, SOSC is a unique organization in several
ways.
“[As CEO] you’re in a position where you can really help individuals
with intellectual disabilities,” Gobrecht said.
“We serve both our athletes and the community. At our organization, we’re
able to provide services that government programs and Parks & Rec can’t
do.”
Shumard feels the benefits of SOSC extend beyond those that are directly served
and can impact the community, in allowing citizens the opportunity to “embrace” the
inspirational experience of witnessing the competition where “everybody
wins.”
The other aspect of SOSC that sets it apart from college and professional athletics
Shumard has experienced in his career with CSULB, USC, Cal State Fullerton
and the Los Angeles Dodgers, is that SOSC athletes maintain a pure joy for
competition and participation, in a time in sports, he said, where there is
so much “pressure to produce, perform and win.”
“In our society today, there is a very unhealthy, underlying desire to
win at all costs,” he said.
Shumard feels experiences he had as a boy helped him relate and empathize with
Special Olympics athletes. While growing up, he said his family moved many
times, creating in him a need to belong.
So, when he would arrive in a new city, there was something about being on
a team that made him feel connected to his community. For this reason, Shumard
knows the tremendous benefit athletics plays in the lives of those who often
struggle to feel that sense of belonging in society.
In this way, sports can be seen as a microcosm of life, according to Shumard,
where lessons learned for a particular sport can be applied to life in general.
“It brings the opportunity for self-worth, achievement and success,” Shumard
said.“What sports does for society is embodied in Special Olympics.”
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