Southeast Missouri State University's Student Recreation Center-North hosted the Special Olympics Missouri St. Louis/Southeast Regional Basketball Tournament on Sunday. Basketball tournaments were also located at the Osage Community Center and A.C. Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau.

Special Olympics Missouri offers a variety of sports for athletes to compete in, including swimming, basketball, bocce, bowling, golf, gymnastics, power lifting, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. Winter sports include alpine skiing, cross country skiing, figure skating, speed skating and floor hockey.

The events started at the main door to the Student Recreation Center-North on Saturday. By the door sat several tables teeming with volunteers waiting to sign in and assist with the activities and helping keep things organized and running smoothly. One of those volunteers assisting with sign-ins was Jennifer Rose, assistant director of intramural and club sports at Southeast.

"I am a local volunteer," Rose said. "I volunteer for as many events with Special Olympics as I can, and I actually work for the university."

According to Rose, the games that took place on Sunday were qualifiers and the top two teams in each division will go to the state indoor games on March 27 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The events offered by Special Olympics Missouri at the locations were 3-on-3, modified, regulation and unified basketball. The unified divisions 1-3, regulation divisions 1-2, and modified divisions 1-4 were played at the Student Recreation Center-North.

Kaed Horrell, who also volunteers with Special Olympics Missouri, said there were 74 teams competing in all three locations in Cape Girardeau with 32 teams playing at the Student Recreation Center-North.

Jackie and Ken Anderson brought their son Kenny Anderson to compete with his team, the Fort Zumwalt Crush. The Crush played both the St. Louis Arc North Stars and St. Louis Arc Blue Devils. Kenny and the Fort Zumwalt Crush won both of their games with scores of 30-16 and 37-24, respectively. The Andersons have been attending events with their son since 1977 and have seen the events getting larger each year they have been in attendance.

"It's been good here on the campus," Jackie Anderson said. "It's been real nice just waiting for our game and the drive down here wasn't too bad."

Wayne Dierker was a spectator for his cousin, who played at the A.C. Brase Arena located in Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. According to Dierker, there were more than 150 people in the building to watch and cheer on the athletes participating in the events.

"Everyone was really happy, ecstatic and really enjoying the basketball games," Dierker said. "When the athletes weren't playing, they were hanging out with their fellow teammates, friends and family around the arena and just having fun. All of them were so full of joy."

Additional information on events held throughout the year, details on how to volunteer with Special Olympics Missouri as well as rules and regulations for the sports can be found at www.somo.org.