KANE'OHE — Sean Hively stepped up to the tee, gripped his driver and whacked the golf ball effortlessly.

Had there not been a net to catch it — and had he been at a tee overlooking a long fairway instead of a classroom — who knows how far that ball would have flown?

"Two years ago, he couldn't make a 1-foot putt," said his golf coach, Rob Nelson, campus and placement director of The Golf Academy of Hawaii, where Hively was practicing yesterday. "Now he hits the ball 200 yards."

Hively, a kidney transplant recipient who was born developmentally disabled, earned a spot to compete at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai next month.

He is one of eight Hawai'i athletes participating in the World Games, which boasts 7,000 Special Olympics athletes competing in 25 Olympic-style sports, including soccer, tennis, basketball and gymnastics.

They leave for the Games today.

Hively, 28, of Waimanalo, is no stranger to competition. He's been involved in Special Olympics for 17 years, earning so many medals his grandparents don't know where to keep them anymore.

"You can't even hang them; there are just so many," said his grandmother, Jeannie Hively, 69, laughing. (She adopted Sean when he was 6 months old.) "It would fill up his entire room!"

Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering those with mental disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition.

The Hawai'i chapter serves more than 1,800 adults and children; internationally, the organization reaches 2.5 million people in 165 countries.

"Ultimately, the larger goal is not just sports as the end all, be all," said Dan Epstein, vice president of sports at Special Olympics Hawaii. "It's really a vehicle for our athletes to become as productive as they can within the community. They gain confidence, hold jobs, do community service and interact with folks in the community. ... And Sean is an example of that."

This will be Hively's fourth international competition, and he's gunning for gold.

"It's (about) the gold medal, man," he said yesterday, smiling. "To get the gold on the stage."

Hively and fellow athlete — and best friend — Natalie Miyahira will be the first golfers to represent Hawai'i at the World Games. They've been practicing at the Ko'olau Golf Club several times a week. His best score over nine holes is 73.

"It's fun," said Hively, who watches the Golf Channel and idolizes Tiger Woods. "I like hitting the ball, concentrating. ... It's challenging."

Jeannie Hively says Special Olympics has done wonders for her grandson, who suffered brain damage at birth when the umbilical cord tightened around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.

He talks more, he's physically active and he's more confident than ever.

"I'm so proud that he's able to do all these sports even with his handicap," Jeannie Hively said. "He can do everything a normal teenager can do — sometimes more. ... I can't thank Special Olympics enough."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.