2nd Annual Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Soccer Match

On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, Special Olympics PA - Philadelphia athlete Angel Rosa and Unified Partner Edwin Leon traveled to Colorado for the second annual Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Soccer Match, presented by MLS WORKS.  The Major League Soccer (MLS) Match featured a 7-v-7 East vs. West All-Star format for which eleven MLS teams sent Special Olympics athletes and Unified Partners to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. 

Angel and Edwin played for the East in a match consisting of two 20-minute halves wearing uniforms provided by ADIDAS. The two athletes, both Northeast High School students, represented Philadelphia well.

MLS WORKS and Special Olympics are working together to leverage the power of sports to promote an environment of social inclusion and acceptance, by uniting people with and without intellectual disabilities through Special Olympics Unified Sports.

MLS participating celebrities included on-air talent Brian Dunseth who provided commentary and interviews with both players and coaches, Colorado Rapids players who acted as on-hand coaches, and LA Galaxy and U.S. National Legend Landon Donovan who presented the athletes and partners with medals after the game. The Western Conference All-Stars defeated the Eastern Conference All-Stars, 3-2. 

Philadelphia’s Interscholastic Unified Sports (IUS) Youth Summit

Special Olympics Pennsylvania – Philadelphia’s Interscholastic Unified Sports (IUS) Youth Summit on June 10, 2015 was a huge success! Athletes and partners represented a few of our IUS Philadelphia schools, and they all did a great job. Many things were discussed during the day, and the athletes and partners had talks about what they enjoyed about the IUS program, as well as what can be added to make the program run smoother.  Both the athletes and partners had fun while participating in the program, and they also made lifelong friends in the process.

They started the day by listening to two guest speakers and then split into different groups to work on team-building and ice-breaking exercises.  The ideas that they gave us for next year’s IUS program were awesome, and we can’t wait to see if we can put them into practice. The energy and excitement that everyone had while participating is what really made this IUS Youth Summit such a huge success.  Hearing from the kids who are directly involved with the program gives us a great opportunity to upgrade the program for the future.  We would like to thank everyone who came out and spoke or helped.  We would also like to extend a huge thank you to The School District of Philadelphia for its hospitality!