Dee Neukomm (right) reflected on her time with Special Olympics after close to 40 years of volunteering and coaching.

By Tommy Osborne

Special Olympics

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PRINCE GEORGE – As the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games gets closer, several long-time volunteers are not only looking forward to the games, but also reflecting on their time with the organization. Dee Neukomm, a founding member of Special Olympics Prince George, has been with Special Olympics for close to 40 years.

“It’s the athletes that keep me coming back. Just seeing their enjoyment and learning skills and learning sportsmanship, and just being the best they can and helping them do that through sport,” Neukomm said.

During her long tenure with Special Olympics, she says there has been many special moments. However, the one that sticks out to her is when her daughter competed in the 1990 National Games in Vancouver.

“The 1990 National Games in Vancouver were very special to me because she was, at the moment, going through chemo when we were at the games, and she was chosen to light the flame. To be there as a mother and a coach, it’s just something that I can’t even fathom, I can’t even explain. But it was very special to me,” Neukomm said.

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“That year, she was also chosen as National female athlete of the year, so we got to go to a big gala event in Toronto, which was very special,” she continued.

Neukomm’s daughter would tragically pass away shortly after, but despite this loss Neukomm would stick with Special Olympics and continue her work in helping improve the lives of so many people with intellectual disabilities.

“I’ve just carried on since then because it’s just become my passion,” she said.

“A lot of them are out getting jobs and they learn a lot of this through sport, so that’s one of the main things: that they can continue on a life in the community, not just with sport, but in our community also,” she continued.

During her decades with Special Olympics, Neukomm hasn’t focused just on athletes; she’s also focused on building the greater Special Olympics community and getting younger coaches and volunteers involved. One of them is Annaliise Wilson, now in her tenth year of volunteering.

“She (Neukomm) knows everything about competition there is, and she has such personal relationships with all the athletes and their personal life, so it’s just been great,” Wilson said, on learning from and working with Neukomm.

Like Neukomm, Wilson says it’s incredibly rewarding to be a part of the Special Olympics community, adding she too has learned and grown a lot from the experience.

“The athletes have taught me so much about myself. They’ve helped me gain confidence and positive perspectives. I don’t play sports myself anymore, but the way that they look at things in sport or in their own personal lives has just encouraged me to look at things differently in my own life,” Wilson said.

Both Neukomm and Wilson encourage everyone to get involved through volunteering, as they both say it’s been an incredibly rewarding part of their lives. You can learn more on Special Olympics’ website here.

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