Looking for an excuse to make new friends, exercise a bit, and have a great time? Check out the Special Olympics of Boston College! Meeting once a week in the fall to play some soccer, SOBC is a perfect excuse to get off campus for a while and have fun.
Some of the players and athletes at a tournament.
Special Olympics of Boston College is a service club on campus for any BC students interested. With no application process (thank god!), this club is a great way to volunteer and meet new people. SOBC partners with adults with disabilities around the BC area in both the fall and the spring. The ultimate goal is stay active, develop skills and have fun. It provides a great way to escape beautiful BC campus for two hours and see how it only takes two hours to make someone really smile.
The Special Olympics state their mission as “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.” Keeping the values of acceptance, camaraderie, and happiness, volunteering with the Special Olympics anywhere is guaranteed to be a rewarding experience.
In the fall, the group practices together and forms two soccer teams to participate in a qualifying tournament and a state tournament. Practice includes warm up, various ball handling drills, scrimmages, and even a few exciting rounds of world cup. The players are enthusiastic and passionate about the game, and it’s hard to resist smiling and laughing with the group. Last year, both soccer teams earned silver medals in the state tournament, and the outlook for this year is bright. By no means do you have to be a soccer star to play. Take it from someone who touched a soccer ball in 6th grade and decided shin guards just weren’t her thing, you only need a positive attitude and a willingness to try to join the club. If your Wednesday afternoons are booked, don’t worry. Come spring, we’ll be back playing volleyball and having a great time!
Caption: Just chilling with our new friends and silver medals!
So throw on some sneakers and make your way over to Jean B Waldstein Park at 5:30 pm on Wednesday to play some soccer with some pretty cool people!
Caption: Playing like champions at the 2012 State Tournament
Article Sources:
http://www.specialolympics.org/mission.aspx?source=QL
Photo Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympicsBostonCollege