Schopper and Bennett going to Berlin
Valley City will be represented at the Special Olympics World Games
Special Olympics USA has announced that it will send a 201-member delegation to represent the United States at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. It will be held June 17 to June 25.
Two of the members of the delegation hail from Valley City. Athlete Jennifer Bennett and Cindy Schopper who will be the Sport Manager of Athletics and soccer.
“Basically you are kind of like a athletic director for that sport,” Schopper said about the Sports manager. “you are the laison for those teams. You are the communication between the management teams for Special Olympics USA and coaches. You do all the trouble shooting. You set up all the things like interviews.” So if Jennifer gets interviewed by ESPN, Schopper would help make that happen.
This will be Schopper’s eleventh trip to the World Games, sixth Summer Games.
For Bennett, this will be her second World Games. She also attended the Special Olympics World Games Athens in 2011 and now she has another chance at a world medal.
Competing is only part of this trip, there are other things that Bennett is looking forward to. “Making friends and traveling, I like to travel, I like to learn different languages.”
One of Jennifer’s hobbies is practicing her German language skills. The Times-Record asked her how many words she knows in German. “A few,” Bennett answered. “like, goodbye and some other words.” Bennett will be competing in the 800 Meter and 1500 Meter race against athletes from around the world. Bennett likes the long distances for a pretty good reason, “because I’m the only girl that is running,” Bennett said. Schopper added, “In our state meets she is the only girl that is running, she competes against the guys.”
Bennett is employed by the Valley City Parks and Recreation as a fitness assistant. In the past year, Bennett wrote her first book, “Owl Girl”. Some other hobbies are traveling and studying life sciences. She is also a competitive tap and ballet dancer.
Also joining Schopper and Bennett from North