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FAIRFIELD – The Cambridge SportsPlex in Fairfield hosted the Southeast Iowa Regional Basketball Skills Competition on Saturday, Feb. 8.

The event is part of Special Olympics Iowa, and included about 100 athletes from 12 counties in Southeast Iowa. Janel Orgovanyi, head coach of the Southeast Iowa Flaming Marshmallows Special Olympics Team, said her team brought 22 athletes to the event.

“We’ve done Special Olympics for eight years. We started out with five people, and now we’re close to 40,” Orgovanyi said. “We really pushed this event because it’s one where their friends and families can come see them.”

The basketball skills competition is split into two divisions based on the athlete’s ability. One of the divisions tests an athlete’s speed dribbling, which can be assisted or unassisted. The other division tests a mixture of basketball skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting. The first-place finishers will advance to the state competition called the Spring Classic. In addition to basketball, the Flaming Marshmallows will send athletes to the Spring Classic to compete in power lifting as well as cheer and dance.

Orgovanyi said Saturday’s event was made possible by the generous donation of supplies and time from local businesses and volunteers. Fairfield Hy-Vee donated the food for the event, and law enforcement officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Fairfield Police Department handed out medals.

“They do that every year, and that’s an important one for us because we want our athletes to have a good rapport with our first-responders,” Orgovanyi said. “Fairfield Park and Rec also gives us the facility, too, without charging a rental fee.”

Orgovanyi said Fairfield Park and Rec lets the Special Olympics athletes practice at the rec center every Thursday for free.

“No other rec center in Iowa does that,” she said. “It’s amazing they do that for us.”

Orgovanyi said she’s aware of adults who wish to join the Flaming Marshmallows but who can’t because of a lack of transportation.

“Hopefully, we’ll get a transit van so we can pick up some of these athletes and help them get to practice,” she said.

After the Spring Classic, the next event on the horizon for the Flaming Marshmallows is the Summer Games, which Ames hosts in May. That will feature competitions in soccer, bocce, cycling, and track and field. Orgovanyi said the event includes an Olympic Village with specialty clinics for the athletes, where they can see a doctor to get a hearing aid or a brace.

Orgovanyi said she and her husband founded the Flaming Marshmallows so their special needs daughter Dorotea could play sports. Dorotea wanted to play soccer like her older sister, but couldn’t. Now that she’s in Special Olympics, Dorotea has opportunities to play sports all year long.