Nine years ago, Joe Ray decided to get involved in Special Olympics Indiana.
It was a courageous decision because the North Vernon resident knew that being involved in Special Olympics meant he would have to overcome vision issues that have made him legally blind and the cerebral palsy that has affected his right side.
Ray had a shunt installed in his skull to stop internal bleeding after his premature birth 40 years ago. Ray cannot use his right arm to play sports, but he compensates for that with undaunted courage and determination.
“I started pitching horseshoes with Special Olympics nine years ago, and I’ve played basketball,” Ray said. “Five years ago, I decided to try volleyball. I didn’t know anything about volleyball. I didn’t even know what a serve was. I just did what the coaches told me to do.”
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Ray personifies what the Special Olympics is about because it has provided him with a valuable outlet into society just by giving him a chance to play sports.
“Before he joined Special Olympics, Joe didn’t have a social life,” Linda Ray, Joe’s mother, said. “There was nowhere for him to go and nothing for him to do, so he’d sit at home all day. He’s made so many friends through Special Olympics. Everyone has been so welcoming. It’s been an amazing social transformation for him.”
Before every practice and match, Joe Ray goes through a transformation of his own. He slips on a pair of blue armbands that bear the Superman insignia and match the hue of Superman’s cape. In the Developmental Services gym during each practice and during all his matches, he believes he is a superman.
“I’m a huge fan of the Superman franchise, especially the comics, movies and the TV show Supergirl,” he said. “Because of all the challenges I’ve overcome in life, I feel like a true superman. Everyone who knows me tells me that I am. I feel like I have to give a superhero effort whenever I compete.”
On Sunday, Ray competed in the Bartholomew Brown Jennings (BBJ) Special Olympics Unified Level 3 Volleyball tournament at Hauser. Ray’s team was comprised of Special Olympics athletes from Bartholomew, Brown and Jennings counties, plus some area athletes who support the Special Olympics athletes by playing alongside them in tournaments.
Special Olympics area coordinator and head volleyball coach Ellen Norfrey knows that it’s Ray’s superhero volleyball effort that makes him stand out to competitors.
“It took most of his first year in volleyball for him to learn to serve,” she said. “Now, he gets the ball over the net pretty consistently and at angles where it is hard to return. He takes direction well, and when I challenge him to do something, he keeps on trying until he gets it done. I’m proud to see his progress each year.”
