Maegen Miller is part of a growing movement of athlete advocacy

Athlete advocacy has become a powerful force for change and Maegen Miller is just one of the growing number of athletes making good things happen.

When Maegen Miller, now 32, arrived at the University of Rhode Island for the Special Olympics Rhode Island in June 2017, where she was slated to compete in swimming, she entered the athlete cafeteria anticipating a breakfast that would fuel her competition. Miller was a 200 backstroker.

Instead, she says, she found muffins, pancakes and sausage. Heavy, too greasy, not quickly digested: Bad food for swimmers, or any athletes, prior to performing, she said in an interview. “It was not a good match,” she said.

And she took her complaints right to the top. Miller lobbied the university to change its menu for Special Olympics athletes. And she got what she wanted.

“Maegen is a prime example of the growing trend toward athlete leadership,” said Dennis DeJesus, the CEO of Special Olympics Rhode Island. “It’s long overdue.” DeJesus authorized an overhaul of the athlete menu.

Maegen Miller is part of a new movement of athlete leadership

Miller began competing in the Special Olympics at 8. She has competed in a wide variety of sports on land, in water, and on snow, indoors and out. She has won medals at the state and national level in swimming, skiing, basketball, sailing, croquet, and snowshoeing. She also plays bocce and has run track and field.

“I come from a family who is very active in different sports,” said Miller. “I want to try new things.” Miller’s parents have been very involved in her Special Olympics career, both acting as her ski coaches. Her father also coached her in basketball and volleyball, and partners with her in bocce.

Her favorite swimming event is backstroke, because, she says, it’s easy to see your competition. Her friends on her team nicknamed her Windmill because she pulled her arms around so quickly doing that event.

When Miller was in her teens, a volunteer with the Special Olympics heard Miller speak and recommended that she try out for a job on a television show. Special Olympics athletes serve as reporters but also learn the technical side of the broadcast business, from handling the cameras and audio equipment to producing a story. Miller was a natural.

When she wanted to advocate for healthier food for her fellow athletes, she used the TV show as her practicum. “I interviewed doctors, nutritionists, physical therapists, all sorts of people,” she said. She also helped promote through her practicum with the show a program within the Special Olympics organization that aids athletes with getting health care, including dental, visual, and hearing exams. “A lot of athletes are not able to be seen by doctors because the doctor doesn’t know how to help them,” she said. When athletes attend events, whether local, regional, national, or international, they know that they can receive medical attention there.

She hopes, too, to improve athletes’ eating habits both in and out of competition, beyond the reach of the organization. “Some people don’t like certain foods, but maybe you can mix them with other foods, or dip them in sauce. Have mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes,” she said. “It’s not just for your physical health. If you don’t eat right, it affects your mental health as well.”
The show has been on an enforced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Miller is excited to resume filming. “Oh, I cannot wait to get back in that studio. I miss my friends,” she said.

She has interviewed many celebrities and sports figures in her role on the show, including Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Billy Gilman, Magic Johnson, and Kevin Garnett. Her favorite interview involved surprising Paul Pierce with her deep knowledge of basketball. “When I talked to [Pierce], I teased him about the University of Rhode Island knocking his Kansas Jayhawks out of the NCAA tournament. He was like, how did you know that? I was like, I know my sport.”

Miller’s advocacy doesn’t stop with athlete health. She will attend the Special Olympics as a technical delegate for swimming. It’s a role she lobbied for, as a way of ensuring that the athletes themselves are represented on the technical committees that oversee rules and modifications at the Games. Now all sports across the Special Olympics, on both the national and international level, will have an athlete in that role, thanks to Miller.

“If I didn’t speak up about it, I don’t think anyone else would,” Miller said. When asked if she was proud to see something she began discussing locally become a part of the international organization, she said she was. “People don’t realize that people with intellectual disabilities or any other different abilities want the same things as anyone else, we want to have jobs, to be in a relationship, to be able to drive or go to college,” Miller said. “Those are the things I know I want and that my friends want. So it’s important to advocate for those things.”

DeJesus agrees. “I think in the next five, 10, 15 years, you’re going to see a lot more of the Maegen Millers of the word becoming spokespeople, advocates, for other athletes,” he said. “They want to be heard, and rightfully so.”

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