‘Worlds’ awaits local Special Olympians
By: Katie Watner
Two local athletes will be representing Team USA at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2007 in Shanghai, China, in October.
West Windsor residents Monica Koppstein, 19, will bowl and Robert Nester, 23, will compete in gymnastics.
Both athletes earned qualifying gold medals at the 2005 Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games and brought home several medals in July 2006 from the first Special Olympics National Summer Games in Ames, Iowa, in their respective sports.
At the National Summer Games, Ms. Koppstein won gold medals in the female singles, female doubles and mixed team events for her division.
It hasn’t taken long for Ms. Koppstein to develop her bowling skills.
She started bowling just three years ago, when her neighbor, a bowling coach, asked her to join a bowling league that included a combination of special needs athletes and college students.
Her mother said she attributes some of Ms. Koppstein’s bowling success to her abilities to remain calm and block distractions out while participating in the sport.
"Monica is very calm. When she bowls, she’s focusing on hitting the pins," Ms. Koppstein’s mother, Nantanee Koppstein, said. "Monica seems to be able to block off loud cheers. She’s disregarding the environment."
And Monica Koppstein never lets a bad frame ruin her day.
She said she will only get "a little bit upset" when she’s disappointed about her performance. For her, the social aspect of bowling is more important than being competitive. Talking to friends and the people she meets are what she enjoys most about bowling.
In fact, she said her favorite part of attending the Team USA training camp in Nashville, Tenn., which was held July 12 to 16, was "meeting teammates and trading Special Olympics pins" from different states.
While Mr. Nester also enjoys meeting new people through Special Olympics events, he is unmistakably competitive.
He was excited about what he learned and accomplished at the Team USA training camp.
"Glen (one of the Team USA gymnastics coaches) helped me out with the rings. He said, ‘Keep your toes pointed and stomach in,’" Mr. Nester said. "I also lost weight and losing weight helps me."
In addition to working with gymnastics coaches to prepare for the World Games, Mr. Nester meets with a personal trainer once a week for strength training and works out at the New York Sports Club in Princeton every other day.
"Robert’s personality is friendly, flirty and talkative, but when he’s competing he’s really serious," said Doreen Hand-Pustizzi, communications manager for Special Olympics New Jersey. "He’s a great athlete and a serious athlete, and he’s very focused. When you see him in the Special Olympics complex’s fitness center, you can tell he’s in shape."
His mother Joan Nester said her son has worked at gymnastics over the years and that the rings have been the most challenging event for him.
"The rings are really hard and the last event he mastered," Ms. Nester said. "He kept doing it over and over and then he got better at it."
Mr. Nester said winning medals is one of things that excites him most about going to the World Summer Games.
At the National Summer Games Mr. Nester earned a gold medal in the pommel horse and silver medals in the parallel bars, rings, high bars and the all-around; at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 New Jersey Summer Games he won gold medals in all the male gymnastics categories for his division and at the World Summer Games Mr. Nester will have opportunities to earn seven more medals.
Even more exciting than the competition for Mr. Nester will be traveling to China with his teammates.
"I’m so excited about the plane ride," he said. "And we’re going to stop in L.A.
Mr. Nester is a Boy Scout with the Life Scout rank and a member of its National Honor Society. He is currently participating in Camp Shriver, a sports camp for Special Olympics athletes. He is one of 11 gymnasts selected to compete for Team USA in the National Games.
Ms. Koppstein will compete in the women’s singles, doubles and team bowling categories for her division. She is one of Team USA’s 40 bowlers going to the World Summer Games in Shanghai.
She said she is looking forward to meeting new people, learning to speak Chinese and learning about different cultures during her trip to Shanghai.
Ms. Koppstein will be beginning her senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North this fall and works as a junior camp counselor at the Princeton YMCA during the summers.
Team USA is bringing approximately 400 athletes to the World Summer Games, with 14 of them from New Jersey. The competition will run Oct. 2 through 11.
More information is available at www.sonj.org.