The 2024 Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) Coordinator of the Year Award was presented to Amanda Cotter of Union County. Cotter was presented with the award at the 2024 SONC Leadership Summit – West, which joined Special Olympics leaders from Western North Carolina, hosted July 18 in Thomasville, North Carolina. Every county has a local program coordinator who serves as the top leader for Special Olympics in their community. They are named and accredited to carry out their roles by SONC.
Becoming the Special Olympics Union County local program coordinator in 2022, she has since enhanced programming with the addition of six sports, raised over $65,000 in funding and facilitated the involvement of area athletes in state, national and international competitions.
With SONC, Cotter has volunteered as a bocce coach and received her certification as an official. As an international technical official, Cotter represented SONC in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida, and in the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. As a coach, she attended the first-ever Special Olympics Caribbean Regional Bocce Tournament, hosted by Special Olympics Cayman Islands in May 2024. She also serves on the Games Management Team for the Special Olympics Southeast U.S. Winter Games – Ice Skating, hosted in Union County.
“When it comes to working with Special Olympics athletes, it’s not just about the sports,” said Cotter. “It’s about their character, their love… They really are the leaders of what humanity is supposed to be.”
From a young age, Cotter was inspired to be involved with the Special Olympics movement, befriending one of her first-grade classmates, who had a disability. In middle school, her friend attended a school for students with disabilities; however, their friendship transcended the classroom.
“There is a sense of love, kindness, community and belonging that I fell into at a very young ago,” said Cotter.
Following her college graduation, Cotter began volunteering with the Michigan Victory Games, a four-day competition for those with physical disabilities, held each May. Motivated by the essence of sportsmanship and strategy demonstrated by the athletes, Cotter became a certified official with the Michigan Disability Sports Alliance, the organizing body of the Michigan Victory Games. Upon relocating to North Carolina, Cotter was employed by First National Bank, where she championed a partnership with SONC through volunteering and fundraising initiatives.
To get involved in the local program committee or to donate to Special Olympics Union County, please contact union@sonc.net.
About Special Olympics North Carolina
Since 1968, the organization has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Nearly 45,000 athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and Unified partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) in North Carolina inspire thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels as well as health and wellness initiatives to improve the health status and increase access to community health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Youth become agents of change through Unified Champion Schools, an education and sports-based program created by Special Olympics to build an inclusive environment among youth with and without intellectual disabilities as well as empower them to become youth leaders and create change in their community. Engage with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
