Sticking to It Pays Off for Teen : Floor Hockey Player Will Be L.A. County’s Sole Athlete at Special Olympics World Winter Games

On the gymnasium floor, William Cleveland guides his hockey stick with hawk-eyed intensity, encouraging his team with bellowing shouts.

“Come on team,” Cleveland barked at the players one day recently. “Let’s get movin’!”

But off the court, the 18-year-old’s philosophy of sports competition becomes more soft-spoken.

“I play because it’s fun,” Cleveland said during a break from floor hockey practice. “I like to have fun with my friends.”

Cleveland, who has been developmentally disabled since age 3, when he was hit by a car, is gearing up for global recognition.

Today he flies to Toronto as Los Angeles County’s sole athlete competing in the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Cleveland is one of 133 U.S. team members who will join about 1,800 athletes from 75 countries.

The games, modeled after the Olympics, are being held in Toronto and Collingwood, Ontario, Saturday through next Friday. The athletes will compete for medals in floor hockey, Alpine and cross-country skiing, and figure and speed skating.

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Only four other developmentally disabled athletes from Southern California are on the national team. Cleveland was selected for the team last summer during a random drawing after his coach submitted his name.

Since his selection, he has become something of a local celebrity at Lanterman High School in South-Central Los Angeles, where all of the students now know who he is.

“Hey, Bill,” yelled teammate Claudia Martinez across the gymnasium. “You’re famous.”

Clad in gold T-shirt, black gym shorts and tattered Reeboks, Cleveland shyly downplayed the new-found attention.

“I guess I don’t mind it,” he said. “It’s kind of neat.”

The 5-foot-11, 187-pound player works out in the school’s weight room, pumping iron through sets of arm extensions, leg presses, curls and overheads.

Photos of sports stars--Shaquille O’Neal, Evander Holyfield--stare down from the walls, inspiring him as he works his way through the repetitions.

Described by his father, Bob, as a “sports star,” Cleveland has won at least 15 medals in soccer, basketball and track and field.

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But Cleveland hasn’t always been that devoted, according to Marc Kelly, one of his coaches.

“When I first started working with him, he was more shy,” Kelly said. “He’d stop playing if his team wasn’t winning. . . . I’ve watched him grow. He doesn’t give up anymore.”

Special Olympics International spokesman Mike Janes said Cleveland is yet another example of how playing sports helps build self-esteem.

“Though the Special Olympics focuses on sports skills, it has far greater benefits,” Janes said Thursday. “Working with teammates can help [developmentally disabled athletes] gain social skills and interact better in school and the community.”

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Cleveland became disabled after he was struck by a car while running across the street to an ice cream truck. His injury has left him with slightly slurred speech and an inability to quickly grasp concepts at times. However, he said his disability has not stopped him from enjoying what he likes to do.

He said his determination and achievements in sports come from his father.

“He’s my role model because I love him very much,” Cleveland said. “He taught me I could be anything. He said medals don’t matter much if you do your best.”