MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee held its eighth annual Special Olympics Sports Extravaganza Sunday (April 6) afternoon as the culminating event of NCAA Division III Week.
117 Marietta College student-athletes joined 16 Special Olympians from the Washington County Special Olympics for an afternoon of skill instruction and games on the new navy blue and gray FieldTurf at Don Drumm Stadium.
"Our players look forward to this event every year," Marietta head men's soccer coach
Joe Bergin said. "They really enjoy working with the Special Olympians and I'm not sure who has more fun, our athletes or the Special Olympians."
The Marietta College athletes ran 10 stations for the Special Olympians designed to teach various sport skills. The stations included football target throwing, lacrosse, soccer, softball as well as some general stations like relay races.
The Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee initiated the partnership with Special Olympics in 2011. The purpose of the partnership is to enhance the lives of Division III student-athletes and Special Olympics athletes through a mutual learning experience; provide a platform for recognition of Special Olympics athletes and Division III student-athletes within their communities; and raise awareness of Special Olympics, its programs and services.
The partnership provides the opportunity for student-athletes to engage with the Special Olympics and serves as another opportunity to demonstrate the citizenship and comprehensive learning attributes of Division III student-athletes. Student-athletes giving back to their local communities not only adds to the comprehensive learning component of Division III, but also provides a venue for passion and service.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
