Joy of connection: Monarchs Special Olympics team seeks out competition and camaraderie

Special Olympics athlete Santos Morales, 23, recently won a bronze medal at a regional bowling competition in Pflugerville, which was fun and inspiring but …

“Zipline is my favorite,” Morales answered when asked about other activities he has experienced as a member of Hill Country Joy Connection, the nonprofit behind the Monarchs Special Olympics team based in Marble Falls. 

Another member of the Monarchs, Devin Copus, 21, named basketball as a favorite activity and an ultimate life goal. His dream is to one day compete in the Special Olympics World Games. Ask him for the dates and location of the next games, and he has the answer.

“Winter games, Turin, Italy, 2025,” he said as soon as the subject was mentioned. “Summer games, 2027 in Santiago, Chile.”

His dream is shared by Fallan Brandt, head of the Monarch Delegation for South Texas Special Olympics Area 13 and the Monarchs’ head coach. Area 13 includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties. 

The Marble Falls Monarchs is a newly formed Special Olympics team that consists of athletes ages 18 and older from across the Highland Lakes. Brandt is a Positive Behavior Support Classroom teacher at Marble Falls Elementary School. She has 12 years’ experience teaching special education and life skills at the middle and high school levels and was the Marble Falls school district’s Special Olympics program director until about five years ago when the program was discontinued. 

Brandt has long seen a need for activities beyond secondary school for people with intellectual disabilities. 

“Lots of people don’t have anything to do after they graduate from high school,” Brandt said. 

She is actively working to change that, with a little help from the community. The group is seeking coaches for the winter basketball and spring track-and-field seasons.

While Morales has done some volunteer work and Copus has a job at Sweet Berry Farm, participating in Special Olympics expands their social network and interests.

“My main goal is to get them out of the house to socialize and make new friends, to give them something to look forward to,” Brandt continued.

The group began as a social club in August 2023. The following January, Brandt formed a nonprofit, Hill Country Joy Connection, to fund a Special Olympics team, which she named the Monarchs.

“I was thinking of names that begin with an M for Marble Falls, and Monarchs is a perfect symbol,” she said. “Monarchs transform into beautiful creatures (butterflies) that can fly. Monarchs transition into something beautiful and powerful.” 

For their first official event, the Monarchs fielded a 10-member bowling team that garnered several medals and ribbons at a competition in Pflugerville in November 2024. Morales won a bronze; Copus a gold. 

In the 30-plus age group, bronze medals went to Kristen Livingston and Sonja Peterson, while Sean Leach earned a fourth-place ribbon.

Jaden Lizcano won gold in the 22- to 30-year-old group. Also in that group, bronze medals went to Taylor Johnson, Rafael Hernandez, Edith Perez, and Santos Morales.

In the 18-22 group, Copus, along with his gold, received a fourth-place ribbon, and Peldar Stogsdill earned a sixth-place ribbon.

The Highland Lakes team hopes to travel to Texas State University in San Marcos on Feb. 22 to compete in a basketball tournament. The group plans to bring two teams of six players each for 3-on-3, half-court ball.

“Santos has a magic to him,” Brandt said. “He can make any 3-point shot he aims at over and over again. That’s why I like to play with him.”

The team practices in the gym at Hill Country Fellowship, 200 Houston Clinton Drive in Burnet. Practice began in January. 

Next, the Monarchs hope to participate in an Area 13 track-and-field event in Leander on April 5. Other sports they could expand to later include soccer, softball, pickleball, aquatics, traditional golf, top golf, and bocce. 

Copus is especially interested in adding softball near the end of the summer.

“I’ve been good at baseball since I was a little kid,” he said. “But I’m also good at bowling and basketball. I always have been.” 

Along with practice for Special Olympics, the group meets socially for a variety of activities. 

“I try to get us all together at least once a month to do something,” Brandt said. “We bowl year-round. It’s my favorite sport. And bowling is a chance to have fun together, even for those who don’t want to compete.”

Other activities have included rock climbing, hiking, ziplining, archery, and a formal dance. Group members also took a field trip to the Paramount Theatre in Austin. 

“It’s inspiring,” Copus said. 

“It makes me happy,” Morales said. 

“We are going to move forward step by step until we get it all built up,” Brandt said about the team. “We just need a little help.” 

To volunteer to help or coach,contact Brandt at hillcountryjoyconnection@gmail.com. To donate to the Monarchs Special Olympics team, visit the Hill Country Joy Connection’s Facebook or Instagram pages.

suzanne@thepicayune.com