When Coty McMurry lights the cauldron to open Idaho's Special Olympics Summer Games on Friday, he'll represent not just a record 700 athletes, but also a Fruitland family with an extraordinary commitment to Special Olympics.

Coty and two brothers in the Kraft/McMurry household will compete in track and field Saturday.

Cheering them on will be their mom, Kristi Kraft, who got hooked on volunteering for Special Olympics when Coty was 8.

Feeling overprotective, she didn't want to send him off to the swimming program alone. She signed up to help out, and 13 years later, she's a local program coordinator.

She and her husband, Eric Kraft, also coach the Payette Grizzlies floor hockey team, which transforms into a track team every summer.

Volunteering has taught Kristi Kraft a lesson.

"My son celebrated more than he competed," she said.

All five sons are athletes.

Mateo Kraft, 13, and Michael Barker, 19, will join brother Coty, 21, on the Special Olympics track Saturday. All three have Down syndrome. Coty McMurry is Kraft's biological son. Barker and Mateo Kraft are adopted.

The Krafts' other sons, Niko McMurry, 17, a senior at Fruitland High, and Micah McMurry, 19, a football player at Weber State, volunteer for the Special Olympics and coach their brothers.

Niko also competes on a unified team, which combines players with and without disabilities.

Micah McMurry is home from college just for the games.

"Playing football is fun, but helping out with Special Olympics is as big of a pay-off," he said.

Kristi Kraft teaches life skills to special education students in Fruitland and sees Special Olympics as a rare outlet for rural kids with developmental disabilities. They wouldn't have other chances to compete in sports, she said.

"It's independence from families and working for something. It's not like joining the school baseball team and being the mascot. This is true. It's genuine," she said.

The Special Olympics World Winter Games in February drew 2,000 athletes from nearly 100 countries to Idaho.

Christine Jarski, a vice president at Special Olympics Idaho, said participation in Special Olympics across the state is up 30 percent in the last year and a half.

One hundred and fifty athletes have signed up to compete since January, when excitement about the World Games was growing.

Best friends Ian Bott and Jeff Wilson, both 26, are longtime Special Olympians.

They'll compete Saturday in swimming and power lifting, respectively.

Bott hopes lots of people come. The competition shines light on athletes who don't get the usual accolades. Besides that, they're a good show.

"Cheering for the teams, I get goosebumps," Bott said.

He and Wilson won't have to compete against one another Saturday, as they had to do once. That time, Wilson even tried to convince his basketball coach to forfeit the game so he wouldn't have to play against his friend.

Anna Webb: 377-6431