Special Olympics coach Vicky Matarazzo continues to touch lives

It’s been more than 35 years since Ronald Reagan stated, during his first inaugural address, “Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” We discovered heroes in every state, starting with the determined 69-year-old who won a match at an ITF Pro Circuit event earlier this year in the Alabama town of Pelham, and culminating with the coach who has overcome multiple sclerosis to build a winning program at the University of Wyoming. Their compelling stories of courage, perseverance and achievement demonstrate that the message delivered by our 40th President rings as true today as it did then.

When Vicky Matarazzo was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, she had simple instructions for her doctors: They need to perform the necessary mastectomy quickly so she can take her Special Olympics tennis players to nationals five weeks later.

Her medical team obliged, and Matarazzo took her place by her students’ side as she had so many times before. Her dedication to her athletes has become legendary in Colorado ever since she took over a Denver Special Olympics tennis program in 1996. She has expanded opportunities for adaptive athletes exponentially, starting a variety of new programs and watching her players collect medals all over the world.

Matarazzo was a 30-year-old mother of five when she first stepped onto a tennis court. She made a foray into coaching about a decade later, turning a local high school team into a Colorado powerhouse. During that time, she found her true passion after answering an ad for a local Special Olympics coach.

“It was like the reason God sent me to tennis at age 30 was not because I was going to go to Wimbledon,” she says, “but because I was going to be a Special Olympics director.”

No disability was too severe for Matarazzo to take on. She has been known to put bells on racquets to help blind athletes, even developing a Velcro fastening system for students unable to properly grip a frame. David Jensen is one of her most memorable success stories. He arrived at a class after a seizure robbed him of his mobility, speech and much of his sight.

He now has several gold medals to his name.

“Those born with adversity often turn out better than those of us that weren’t,” Matarazzo says. “Every day of their life is adversity, and we whine about the silliest little things.”

Watching her students deal with disability has undoubtedly prepared Matarazzo to manage her own ongoing health issues. In 2014, just four years after her breast cancer battle, doctors diagnosed her with stage IV lung cancer.  Against the odds, the 68-year-old is still active in coaching her beloved Special Olympics players.

“Even though I know my life is probably coming close to an end, I know I’ve had an opportunity to touch lives,” she says. “People think tennis is just a game, but if they spent one day with me, they would see that it is so much more.”

Matarazzo, a recipient of the 2004 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the USTA Intermountain Section, has spoken to many groups in the hope that her experience will inspire others to make a difference. Her enthusiasm is convincing, contagious and it immediately invites the question: What are the rest of you waiting for?

“I don’t care if people remember my name,” she says, “but if they can take one thing away, I’d want them to find an opportunity to change a life.”