In an effort to promote intercollegiate Special Olympics, Notre Dame hosted a soccer tournament last Sunday in collaboration with Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan. Senior Ted Glasnow, co-president of Special Olympics Notre Dame, said Special Olympics Unified Sports combines an approximately equal number of athletes with intellectual disabilities and athletes without intellectual disabilities on teams for training and competition. “Unified soccer avoids what can sometimes be the patronizing relationship between volunteers without intellectual disability and athletes with intellectual disabilities,” Glasnow said. “This event shows that the former is not the only party that can bring something to the table and highlights the equality that should exist in society in general.” Glasnow said the tournament took place Apr. 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Alumni Field. There were three games, and each team played the other two teams. The team from Western Michigan won the tournament, Michigan’s team came in second and Notre Dame placed third. The players dedicated eight weeks to training after the teams took shape in January, Glasnow said. He said the participation of the athletes was more important than the outcome of the games themselves. Glasnow said the soccer tournament, while perhaps only a small start, attests to the rising involvement in Special Olympics activities at the college level and the passion students bring to these activities. “A few years back, Special Olympics International did not think it was worthwhile to promote the type of volunteerism they do for younger demographics,” he said. “So, we felt the need to prove that college students can bring the same, if not more, passion to their service through Special Olympics.” Glasnow said his passion comes from serving as a coach of Special Olympics track and field since high school. He said events like the unified soccer tournament will galvanize colleges around the country to consider adding and expanding Special Olympics programs for their students, incorporating teams like the ones that participated in Sunday’s tournament into their full athletic lineups. “We are already working with schools across the country, in accordance with the Special Olympics nationa-l office, to spread the event even further,” Glasnow said. “Eventually, we hope to have state, regional and national collegiate Unified sports seasons.” Glasnow said he felt the event ought to have received more support from the Notre Dame student body. “Many friends and family members of the athletes showed up from the community,” he said. “But we had a disappointing number of students.” Glasnow said Special Olympics Notre Dame intends to continue and hopefully expand the united soccer event next year. “We are definitely going to have the event again next year,” Glasnow said. “We are hoping for at least four teams next year, but we are certainly shooting for as many as we can get.” Glasnow said Adidas and Special Olympics Indiana sponsored the tournament.
Advertisement AdvertisementThe biggest event on the internet took place last month between British Vlogger KSI and controversial American Youtube star Logan Paul at the Manchester Arena in London in a Boxing match.The undercard also included Jake Paul who is the brother of Logan Paul and Deji, who is KSI’s younger sibling. It was truly a historic and biggest event ever made on the internet as they both have 37 million subscribers combined.Jake Paul emerged victorious as he knocked out Deji and now it looks like Jake is biting more than he can chew, as he said that he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather.Right…after the exhibition match against Deji, Jake Paul wants to fight FloydIn an article recently published by Hollywoodlife, a source close to Jake Paul told them in an interview that, “Jake would love to get in the ring with Floyd because he knows that it would turn out very lucrative for him”.“Though many would think it was a joke – and Jake would easily get decimated quickly — he knows that there is a huge payday for anyone that gets in the ring with Floyd,” the insider tells HollywoodLife.com. It’s all about the money, it seems, and if there’s anyone who can talk as much trash as Floyd, it’s a Paul brother. “[Jake] would love to use his social media presence and the hype machine that Floyd provides to make a fight between the two happen.”However, last month after beating Deji, he talked about fighting American Rapper Chris Brown and he said during the post-fight interview:“I want to call someone out,” said Jake after his match. “Chris Brown, I know you were supposed to fight Soulja Boy. But I think it is time you got in the ring with someone your own size.”‘I wanna keep on fighting, I love the sport. So, Chris Brown, I wanna see you,’ he added.Although, I doubt Floyd Mayweather would even entertain Jake Paul considering he is chasing a nine-figure payday against Manny Pacquiao.Also Read-Boxing: Canelo Alvarez to potentially return to the ring on Dec.15