Special Olympics Athletes Compete In Unified Soccer Tournament

Nearly 700 athletes competed Wednesday in the Special Olympics Oklahoma Unified soccer tournament at Owasso Sports Park.

It gives Special Olympics athletes a chance to share the field with students who do not have disabilities. The State Director of Soccer for Special Olympics Oklahoma, Robert Schaefer, has been involved since 1992.

He said this year's tournament was the largest yet with 80 teams participating from all over the state.

"They are all from different walks of life," he continued saying, "They get together, form relationships, and they have the opportunity to actually bond with them on a different level and the acceptance is huge."

Kenzie Queen, a senior at Catoosa High School, is a Unified partner and said she learned about the program from her brother who also competed.

Her freshman teammate, Bobby Yang, is a Special Olympics athlete and has big dreams.

"I really want to play soccer like Cristiano Ronaldo. I like Cristiano Ronaldo," he said.

The pair have become good friends competing together in several Unified sports. "She is very nice and very cool. We are very good friends," said Yang.

Although they go to the same school, Queen and Yang rarely see each other if not for game days.

"Every time I see Bobby he always says hi to me or I say hi to him, high five or something," Queen added.

When she is not on the field, Queen is cheering Yang on from the sideline as he scores goals for their team.

"I almost got like a hatrick which is three goal points from one player, but I made two and we won the game and it was amazing," he said.

That feeling of finding the back of the net is especially sweet in this atmosphere as some school districts, like Broken Arrow, bring out their fan club.

"We are part of the Fans in the Stands at Broken Arrow High School and we are here to support our Special Olympics team," said senior Ava Connor. "We are so very proud of them for the amazing job they have done so far and we are hoping to take this home as a win."

The group is the epitome of loud and proud chanting things like "Go B-A, Go B-A, Go" and "B-A til I die, B-A, B-A til I die."

"Our athletes give us the energy and we would like to give it back to them. They had the biggest smile on their face and we want to reward them for that," said Connor.

It is their support that Cameron Majka and Emma Wolf said they love most about Unified sports.

"They are all my favorites," Wolf added.

Soccer is not only unifying athletes on the pitch, but also in the lifelong bonds that are formed after the final whistle is blown.

For Majka, joining the team and meeting Wolf even shifted her perspective."It made me see everything so much differently because they are always positive about anything, so it has kind of made me rethink how I look at life," she said.

That lesson is something we could all learn from the athletes who bring joy to everything they do, no matter the challenge. "When they play together, when they practice together, when they get to know each other, they realize that they have a lot of common goals," said Schaefer.

A commonality that turns into lives changed forever.