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LLOYD: Utah first lady Abby Cox savors Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge at Utah Open

By Jared Lloyd - | Aug 15, 2022
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Utah first lady Abby Cox talks to one of the participants at the 2022 Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge as part of the Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Monday, August 15, 2022.
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Jared Lloyd of the Daily Herald (left) bumps fists with Emily Rissinger, 33, of Layton after they completed the 2022 Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge as part of the Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Monday, August 15, 2022.
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Participants pose for a photo at the 2022 Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge as part of the Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Monday, August 15, 2022.
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Utah first lady Abby Cox putts the ball during the 2022 Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge as part of the Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Monday, August 15, 2022.

Emily Rissinger has only been playing golf for a couple of years, only since her boyfriend, Tom Beck, started teaching her.

The couple, who live in Layton, made the trip to Provo Monday for the annual Special Olympics Short-Game Challenge as part of the 2022 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club.

“It was pretty exciting and fun,” Rissinger said.

Beck, 41, and Rissinger, 33, admitted they have had their moments when things haven’t been ideal as she’s learned how to play.

“You can get the girlfriend all mad at you,” Rissinger said. “I’d get frustrated sometimes because he would try to tell me what to do and I’m like, ‘I can do it!'”

But Beck — who said he has played golf for some 25 years — said he loves being on the course with his girlfriend.

“It’s a good time,” Beck said. “I got her lessons with a girl who works at Sun Hills golf course. My favorite part of golf is the sound of the ball going in the cup.”

Rissinger said she loves the mental aspect of the sport.

“I love being out there having fun,” she said with a grin. “You can’t take things personal, but sometimes you do. Other than that, it’s fun and relaxing when you are stressed out.”

The perspective of the Special Olympians is one of the things I love about competing in the event every year.

I’ve had the opportunity to team up with many amazing athletes of different ages and skills levels. Although their physical abilities have differed, without exception they have displayed a passion for their sports that puts athletics in the right perspective.

I’m not the only one who sees that.

I got the chance to talk to Utah first lady Abby Cox, wife of Governor Spencer Cox, who participated in the event for the first time and loved being able to compete with the Special Olympians.

“Special Olympics is just a beautiful organization that brings people together of all different experiences and ability levels, and it’s phenomenal,” Abby Cox said. “I can’t explain it any more than it’s absolutely pure joy.”

She explained that she saw the importance of working with individuals of different abilities when she was growing up.

“Three of my really dear friends had Down Syndrome and I went through all my school years with them,” Abby Cox said. “Because of that, I decided to do special education as my vocation. It’s been my passion. When I became the first lady, it was an opportunity to really dive in and do things I’m passionate about.”

She said those efforts resulted in her spending time at the USA Games in Florida and she came away amazed.

“It was the most joyful thing I have ever experienced,” Abby Cox said. “It’s there’s nothing like it if you get involved in unified sports and Special Olympics, you will never be the same.”

She explained that she has seen sports provide a crucial avenue to physical and emotional strength for athletes of diverse backgrounds.

“The athletes have an experience where they feel like they’re there and they belong,” Abby Cox said. “There are so many times in their lives that they don’t feel that. Special Olympics is a place where no matter what ability they have (and they have many) they feel like they belong.”

She also loves seeing events like the Short-Game Challenge and unified sports programs where typically-developing peers are there competing with athletes with unique abilities.

“They develop empathy,” Abby Cox said. “They develop a connection. They see something in themselves that they didn’t know was there. And when it comes to unified sports, especially when it’s within our schools, what we’re seeing is whole school inclusion environments being created. There’s nothing like it and it’s exactly what we need right now. It’s the antidote to whatever ails us in our society right now.”

Her hope is that parents, communities and businesses will come together to support the expansion of these efforts so everyone can see those benefits.

“The call to action is if you’re a parent of any child in a school district, find out if unified sports are happening in your school,” Abby Cox said. “Get your child involved, no matter their ability. If they’re a typically developing child, get them involved. If they’re a child with disabilities, get them involved. If you find that there’s not a program in your school, contact Special Olympics Utah or Show Up Utah. We will help you to find it.

“If you are a business and you think this is something you would like to sponsor, contact us. Contact Special Olympics. What we’ve been doing is going through our education foundations, which has been amazing. All we have to do is show our businesses one time, just bring them to an event and they’re sold because there’s just nothing like it. We want to see unified sports in every single school.”

Are they big goals? Yes.

But as I looked Rissinger and Beck and all the other incredible Special Olympians I know, I completely agree with Abby Cox.

These amazing people deserve to have these avenues to teach us all about how to truly love sports.

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