A word from Kyleigh, club president: “We had a truly amazing day with a Special Olympics soccer team in Golden Gate Park. Four girls from our Club (Hannah Connelly, Siena Atkins, Ava Begun and Nathalie Riddel) came geared up to play soccer and help facilitate the practice. The head coach Dwight has been volunteering his time every Saturday for over 28 years. Today was the very last practice before the big tournament which will be held in San Jose next weekend. There were about 20 players that were spit into 2 groups: the “Golden Gaters” (the higher functioning group) and the “Golden Nuggets”. We had tons of volunteers including our four girls that all jumped in to play and participate. Some of us were asked to cheer the players on because it helps them stay focused and the participants love the encouragement. We truly enjoyed the athletes who ranged in age between 14 and 72 years ikd. Our very favorite player was a 26 year old young man named Robert whose personality would light up any room. He was full of smiles, hugs and so much fun. He wasn’t afraid to let our pretty young Pledge To Humanity gals know that he was a “ladies man”. He loved being the center of attention and loved making us laugh. The Special Olympic athletes were engaged in the soccer and seemed to really enjoy the weekly practice. The other volunteers couldn’t believe that our group drove all the way from the East Bay area… but it was well worth the trek. We all left with a smile on our face and truly rich from the experience. We are all looking forward to doing more sporting events with Special Olympics.”
