Special Olympics is an organization you may have heard a lot about but haven’t really thought much about. Many people know it’s an organization that supports, organizes, and orchestrates athletic events all over the country but haven’t had the opportunity to be involved, myself included.
This past April I attended my first event, the Minnesota Spring Games which included the Basketball and Volleyball state tournaments. One of my co-workers and I volunteered to help at the competition and it felt good to be part of such an energetic group of people. We weren’t just there for fun though, we were there for research.
Four51 has created a unique partnership with Special Olympics MN (SOMN), specifically Area 11, as part of a new program where groups like Four51 take responsibility for local area competitions. As a Four51 Core Captain I was given an overview of SOMN but because I had never seen a SOMN event before, my co-captain Ross and I decided to check out the Basketball state tournament. We really enjoyed ourselves at the event but I think we missed out on a lot of the experience by not having interaction with the athletes. Luckily we were about to get our chance!
The first competition Four51 was tasked with managing was the Area 11 Athletics competition on May 19, 2007—a day-long Track and Field competition. The team of Four51 captains was charged with organizing the Opening Ceremonies, recruiting 80 volunteers, and coordinating the field events on the day of the competition. There were 325 athletes competing with the support of their 50+ coaches and several hundred spectators who came to cheer them on. Along with our friends, family, and SOMN staff, Four51 employees ran a smooth event that was enjoyable for all. It was a beautiful (okay, maybe a little hot) spring day in Minnesota and the event was a complete success!
Our next event is an Area 11 golf event at the end of July and I’m looking forward to running another great event and meeting more SOMN athletes!
Nikki