The Area 13 Special Olympics volleyball team that won gold at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles returned to a champion's welcome at Bishop International Airport on Monday night.

According to ABC 12, it had been a long journey for the team comprised of current and former students of Genesee County's Elmer Knopf Learning Center which included countless hours of practice and fundraising tens of thousands of dollars just to get to L.A. Head Coah Shelia Gafney said "they worked hard for 12 weeks" and "once they believed in themselves, they did a nice job and won the medal."

Of the welcome at Bishop Airport, Gafney said the team's hard work didn't go unnoticed and "this is fantastic, I love it, it's awesome."

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