Maria Luisa Trinidad, a proud graduate of Mercedes High School, has been selected to be a coach for the Texas Special Olympics Floorball team as they travel to Italy in March 2025 to represent Team USA at the Special Olympics World Games.
Trinidad will join fellow Rio Grande Valley native, Elizabeth (Liz) Salinas, who will serve as the goalie for the Special Olympics USA Floorball team.
Trinidad, lecturer and current Associate Chair of the Health and Human Performance Department at UTRGV, said she was honored to be chosen from coaching candidates from across the state.
“It’s a privilege to be out there and making a difference in the lives of our athletes and their families,” Trinidad said.
Trinidad has been involved with Special Olympics Texas for 20 years and said she enjoys recruiting her fellow university colleagues and students to volunteer with the Special Olympics Texas RGV events.
“I jumped into volunteer work as an undergraduate and just fell in love with it,” Trinidad said. “I have a passion for coaching, and I continue doing it to set an example for my students, because I teach adapted kinesiology at UTRGV.”
Trinidad said she also hopes to set an example to her hometown of Mercedes.
“I would encourage people to get more involved,” she said. “We need to be the advocates, be the voice of our special needs population. It would be great to see more accessible parks within our city of Mercedes.”
Trinidad said she’s looking forward to proudly representing Texas and the USA on the international stage alongside the team.
“Yes, we’re from Texas, but we’re Team USA,” she said.
Liz Salinas, of Elsa, Texas, was first introduced to the Special Olympics through her day program, My Morning Star Adult Day Care. Having never played sports before Special Olympics, Salinas quickly thrived, and when her coaches brought floorball to her day program, “Salinas was the natural choice to play goalie.”
Congratulations Maria Luisa and Liz! We are all rooting for you!