A year ago, St. James Parish’s Theodore “T.C.” Bazile paced an amazing performance by River Region athletes at the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey.

Bazile finished with first place showings in the shot put, 4×100-meter relay and 400-meter run. He also won fourth place in the running long jump.

He is ready to do it again.

Special Olympics Louisiana selected Bazile, the only athlete from the Bayouland Area, to attend the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Overall, four athletes, one unified partner and one coach from Louisiana have been chosen to attend.

The games will be held July 25 through Aug. 2 in Los Angeles.

According to Casey Minton, director of internal communications and marketing, Special Olympics Louisiana needs to raise $30,000 to send the delegation to the Games, where it costs approximately $5,000 to send each attendee.

T.C. has long been an amazing ambassador for sports in the River Parishes and the power of the Special Olympics.

His exploits have also caught the eye of national audiences.

He was one of six athletes featured on “Celebrating Champions: 2014 Special Olympics USA Games,” a one-hour TV show chronicling the passion, dedication and determination of America’s most inspiring athletes during the week-long celebration of the 2014 USA Games, which was broadcast on FOX Sports 1.

T.C., like all Special Olympics athletes and volunteers, deserve support whenever possible.

For more information about the World Summer Games or to donate, visit laso.org or call 1-800-345-6644.