Fighting Peacocks to Represent Oklahoma at 2022 Special Olympics USA Games
The Home of Hope is pleased to announce that for the second year in a row the Delaware County Friendship Home’s Fighting Peacocks have been chosen to represent Oklahoma at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
The Fighting Peacocks are a unified Special Olympics softball team based in Jay, Okla. Past Special Olympic champions, the 10-member team will go for the gold once again at this year’s USA Games, which will be held June 5-12, in Orlando, Fla.
The team started in 2010, and have traveled and competed all over the United States, winning games and earning multiple medals and championships along the way.
The Fighting Peacocks were bronze medalists at the 2012 SONA Softball Invitational in Oklahoma City; silver medalists at the 2013 SONA Softball Invitational in Trenton, N.J., and the 2016 SONA Softball Invitational in Bismarck, N.D.; and gold medalists at the 2014 SONA Softball Invitational in Wichita, Kansas, the 2015 SONA Softball Invitational in Roanoke, Va., and the 2019 SONA Softball Invitational in Nashville, Tenn.
The Special Olympic champions also won gold at the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games. That same year, the Cherokee Nation presented the team with a proclamation declaring August 13th as National Fighting Peacocks Day.
Since 2012, the team has been led by head coach Alicia Jory and assistant coaches Clayton “Doo” Foreman and Michael “Lurch” Wolf. The coaches themselves are also standouts. Jory was selected as Oklahoma Special Olympics Coach of the Year in 2018, while Wolf is the first athlete coach for Team Oklahoma.
Every year, the athletes, coaches and partners hold Indian taco sales, raffles, silent auctions, bingo nights and other events to raise funds so the entire team can compete at the highest level on a national stage.
The cost to take one athlete to the 2022 USA Games is $1,500. The Fighting Peacocks will be taking 10 athletes and partners to compete, meaning a total of $15,000 is needed to cover airfare, lodging, food and uniforms for the team.
“For many of our players, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with the leading competitors of their sport on a national stage,” said Coach Jory, who is also the residential program coordinator. “To get them there, we need your help.”
Three of the players are members of the Wyandotte Nation. Each year, Wyandotte has sponsored their trip to compete.
If you too would like to help send the Fighting Peacocks to the Special Olympics USA Games and support the team as it goes for the gold once again, click here.
Peacock Day is Saturday, May 20. Everyone is invited to come to the Jay High School baseball field and watch the Fighting Peacocks play. Starting at 6 p.m., Peacock Day will include two exhibition games, crowd games, a silent auction and raffle. Tickets are free, so come support the Fighting Peacocks as they prepare to return to the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
Delaware County Friendship Homes is a training facility/residential program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities located in Jay. It is a division of Home of Hope.
Home of Hope is a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides residential, vocational and quality of life programs to person with developmental and intellectual disabilities across northeast Oklahoma.
Established in 1968, Home of Hope Inc. serves five counties in northeast Oklahoma with operations in the communities of Vinita, Jay, Miami, Claremore, Grove and Pryor.
In addition to serving more than 270 men and women with developmental and other disabilities, Home of Hope employs more than 600 staff members.
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