How these one-of-a-kind kicks are giving Special Olympic athletes a boost

Local artist Sailor Danny makes waves with his paintings inspired by legendary musicians and local landscapes, while Carl English of the St. John's Edge makes his own splash on the basketball court.

Together the duo have teamed up to auction off a one-of-a-kind pair of basketball shoes painted by Sailor Danny — real name Daniel Frampton — and to be worn by English to raise funds for the upcoming Newfoundland and Labrador Special Olympic Games in Grand Falls-Windsor.

"Our job is to bring awareness to the lack of funding and the things these special athletes need to travel and to get off the island and take part in the games," English said Wednesday morning at the Browning & Harvey Corporate office in St. John's, where the unveiling of the artwork took place.

"The athletes are challenged with enough things to begin with ... and the challenge of not being able to get off the island because of lack of funding is shameful."  

The Special Olympic Games in Newfoundland and Labrador is home to roughly 780 athletes according to executive director Trish Williams. The organization is a provincial not-for-profit that provides training and competition opportunities for athletes of all ages in both summer and winter sports. 

"This is huge for the organization because it creates much-needed funds, but it also creates awareness of the challenges around raising money to support our athletes and their goals," Williams said. 

Good challenge for artist

Frampton said the shoes were difficult to paint on, but the cause far outweighed any frustration. Each shoe was painted separately — one depicting the Special Olympic summer and winter games, the other depicting English at his rustic ocean-side hoop where he learned and mastered the game as a boy.

Frampton threw in a surprise Wednesday morning during the unveiling of his English shoes: a portrait of the Temperance Street houses in St. John's known as the Four Sisters that will also be a part of the auction.

"I got approached by the Special Olympics to come up with a piece for their fundraising auction and picked out a painting I was going to do for them," he said. 

"But then while I was on the boat I got asked to do some sneakers for Mr. Carl English. It was an interesting challenge, and it was a challenge because they're not canvas by any means and we just came together and we did it."

The Special Olympic Winter Games will take place on Feb. 22-24 and March 1-3 in Grand Falls-Windsor. The auction in support of the games will be held on April 6. 

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