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Chelsea Snead -- unified player, Special Olympics
Nevada Daily Mail
Winters in Missouri bring basketball to Nevada and the surrounding schools. Boy/girl double headers, concession stand pretzels, and grueling week long tournaments become commonplace. Beyond the suspense of double overtime, beyond the late night road trips, there is a second basketball season that garners little attention beyond its players and parents. These are the teams and games of Special Olympics of Missouri. This is where you will find Chelsea Snead, practicing with her three-on-three team.
Under normal circumstances, Snead would not qualify for Special Olympics. She is a unified player, a non-handicapped member of the team. Special Olympics' rules allow for unified players, which in many cases act as a lead player on the court helping the game move forward. That status doesn't save her from the drills, the sprints, and the running at practice. She is every bit the athlete as is the star forward on the high school varsity team.
Chelsea, 18, is the daughter of Gene and Trudy Snead and was born and raised in Nevada. She will attend MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan., beginning this fall, where she plans to major in special education.
In addition to a degree in education, she wants to become a youth minister. She attends Nevada Church of the Nazarene and is active in the youth group. She said that a recent church conference is where she first felt the call to be a youth minister.
She is relatively new to basketball, but said she enjoys the team aspects and athleticism required. Having previously helped as a volunteer, she became involved with Special Olympics as a player when the Nevada Special Athletes coach, Bonnie Franklin, needed another three-on-three player. Snead praises Franklin saying that she is "like my big sister."
Her greatest inspiration in sports is Tim Tebow because of his faith. She said that he doesn't let the game interfere with his faith and for that she admires him.
Snead lost her dad Gene last August in what she described as the saddest day of her life. "Ugh" is the reply to questions about her mom Trudy, but it is all in jest. She said that her mom "drives me nuts but I love her, and she pushed me to do my best."
Her first day of school was too embarrassing to share but she praised Rebecca Keltner, her chemistry teacher and A+ program director. Her greatest challenge now is finding time to get all of her homework done. At least she doesn't have to suffer homework alone, her cat Bernie is always there with her.
Ever the teenager, she took a few seconds during the interview to answer an Instagram. Always on the go, she volunteers at church, with Healthy Nevada, Moss House, and Special Olympics.
She is set on a career in education, but admits being a ninja would be a cool alternative if teaching doesn't work out.
Snead said popularity doesn't matter and went on to describe herself as spontaneous. She claims she is too shy and wishes she could be more open. Once you get to know her just a little, she is anything but shy and will not avoid conversations about religion. She did admit though that she knows little of politics and dislikes when others "tear people down."
She learned life is not fair when her older siblings, Tim and Bethany, became teenagers and got to go places she could not. Anne Frank once said that in spite of everything, she believed people were basically good. Snead wholeheartedly agreed saying, "because it's all in your up bringing. People aren't born racist, it is the world that influences them."