Diana Burke, Team USA Assistant Coach
Home: Lexington
Employer: Retired (Special Education Teacher, Scott County High School)
Years in Special Olympics: 24
Sports Coached: Aquatics, Basketball, Bowling, Skiing, Softball, Track and Field
Notes: This will be Diana’s fourth coaching stint for a World Summer Games team. She served as a bowling coach at the 19991 Games in Minneapolis and a track and field coach at the 1995 Games in New Haven, Conn. She was an Additional Staff coach at the 1999 Games in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. Diana also attended the 2006 Special USA National Games in Ames, Iowa, and while she was not officially listed as a coach, she provided tremendous support for the Team Kentucky effort there.
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Andrew Browning
Home: Lexington
Birthday: 08/20/88
School: Lafayette High School
Years in Special Olympics: 6
Sports: Basketball, Bowling, Golf, Softball and Track and Field
Hobbies: Playing X-Box, using my computer, watching sports
Notes: Andrew recently competed as part of the Kentucky softball team that participated in the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games in Ames, Iowa. Andrew won a silver medal at those Games as the team’s first baseman. He is a trained Global Messenger and gives many speeches on behalf of the organization. In 2001 he named a Rising Star at Glendover Elementary School. In 2002 he received the Fayette County Spirit of Special Olympics Award and was featured as a Lexington Family Scholar Athlete of the Month in 2003.
What accomplishments make you most proud of yourself?: Going to National Games, being a Global Messenger, being on track to graduate high school in May 2007.
How has Special Olympics changed your life?: It IS my life.
What does attending World Games mean to you?: Just too awesome. Most exciting thing to happen to me. Still can’t believe it happened to me that I am going to China across the ocean. I am so proud to be on Team USA.
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Jessica Haggerty
Home: Elizabethtown
Birthday: 04/07/77
Employer: McDonald’s
Years in Special Olympics: 17
Sports: Basketball, Bowling, Skiing and Track and Field
Hobbies: Bowling and going out with friends
Notes: This will be Jessica’s second trip to a World Summer Games. She also participated in Bowling in the 1995 World Summer Games in New Haven, Conn., where she earned to silver and one bronze medal. Jessica is a Special Olympics Global Messenger and has given speeches on behalf of the organization throughout the state.
What accomplishments make you most proud of yourself?: Having a job, driving my own car and being a Global Messenger
How has Special Olympics changed your life?: It has shown me that I can do anything if I try. It has given me self-confidence and new friends.
What does attending World Games mean to you?: I will get to meet people from all over the world and be a part of Team USA. It is an honor to be going for my country.
