From Roommates to Rivals: Friendship Outlasts Tense Competition

A bowler and track athlete, Cameron Stead said he enjoys bocce because it is similar to curling, but more accessible to him than the icy winter sport. An accommodated maintenance worker with the town of Bay Robert’s, Cameron is the youngest player on Team Special Olympics Newfoundland & Labrador, competing in bocce. He is also roommates with Junior Dumaresque, who is ironically the oldest player on Team Newfoundland and Labrador at 66 years old, also participating in bocce. 

“[I love] having fun with my friends and coaches,” Cameron said, “Sonya’s a heck of a coach!” 

Junior said playing bocce and curling within Special Olympics has helped him stay healthy over the years, while proudly adding that he lives independently and cooks his owns meals. During the National Games, him, Cameron, and the rest of their bocce team from Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador have been pretty much inseparable. 

As fate would have it, however, both Cameron and Junior would be facing each other in a high-stakes game of bocce. Watching from the sidelines was their entire bocce team, athletes and volunteers alike. Among them was the team’s head coach, a special education teacher of over 26 years by the name of Sonya Lee. 

“I knew in my heart and soul,” Sonya said, “that I wanted to work with very special, unique individuals.” 

 Joined by her daughter Daria Jackson—Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bocce’s mission staff—Sonya said she “refuses to teach anyone else” due to her passion for people like Junior who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A respite worker building towards a career in special education herself, Daria clearly inherited her mother’s passion for Special Olympics.  

“Knowing all these people I would come,” Daria said, motioning to Cameron, Junior, and the other athletes, “I couldn’t say no to being the team’s mission staff!” 

A bowler and track athlete, Cameron Stead said he enjoys bocce because it is similar to curling, but more accessible to him than the icy winter sport. An accommodated maintenance worker with the town of Bay Robert’s, Cameron is the youngest player on Team Special Olympics Newfoundland & Labrador, competing in bocce. He is also roommates with Junior Dumaresque, who is ironically the oldest player on Team Newfoundland and Labrador at 66 years old, also participating in bocce. 

“[I love] having fun with my friends and coaches,” Cameron said, “Sonya’s a heck of a coach!” 

Junior said playing bocce and curling within Special Olympics has helped him stay healthy over the years, while proudly adding that he lives independently and cooks his owns meals. During the National Games, him, Cameron, and the rest of their bocce team from Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador have been pretty much inseparable. 

As fate would have it, however, both Cameron and Junior would be facing each other in a high-stakes game of bocce. Watching from the sidelines was their entire bocce team, athletes and volunteers alike. Among them was the team’s head coach, a special education teacher of over 26 years by the name of Sonya Lee. 

“I knew in my heart and soul,” Sonya said, “that I wanted to work with very special, unique individuals.” 

Joined by her daughter Daria Jackson—Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bocce’s mission staff—Sonya said she “refuses to teach anyone else” due to her passion for people like Junior who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A respite worker building towards a career in special education herself, Daria clearly inherited her mother’s passion for Special Olympics.  

“Knowing all these people I would come,” Daria said, motioning to Cameron, Junior, and the other athletes, “I couldn’t say no to being the team’s mission staff!” 

The two made a point of shaking hands on camera, before leaving the bocce court together to take on the rest of the week with their friends from Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador.