In Segment 1 of the Special Olympics Takeover, we spoke with Mike Mason, President & CEO of Special Olympics Connecticut; Matt Necci, Board Chair of Special Olympics Connecticut; and Special Olympics Athletes Hector Sanchez, Nick Cella, Matt Glad, and Albert Lognin about their experiences with Special Olympics Connecticut, as well as the Healthy Athletes® and Unified Sports® programs.
In Segment 2, we spoke with Mike Mason, Matt Necci, and Special Olympics Athletes Brian Drexler and Dan Widing.
Segment 3 includes conversations with Mike Mason, Matt Necci, and Special Olympics Athletes Ashley Lavoie, Jake Fialkoff, and Karla Ferrer.
Special Olympics Connecticut provides year-round sports training and competitions for over 10,000 athletes and Unified Sports® partners. It also promotes a healthy lifestyle by offering free health screenings at events, and by providing participants with the education and resources to improve their sports performance and enhance their overall health and fitness.
Healthy Athletes® is a program designed to improve each athlete's ability to train and compete by providing resources to advance their overall quality of health and reinforce the importance of developing a healthy lifestyle. The program's vision is to create a world where people with intellectual disabilities are given the same opportunities as healthy as people without intellectual disabilities and, in doing so, allow Special Olympics athletes to perform their best both on and off the playing field.
Special Olympics Unified Sports® teams bring people together, and so much more. About 1.2 million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports®, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way. ESPN has served as the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports® since 2013, supporting the growth and expansion of this program that empowers individuals with and without intellectual disabilities to engage through the power of sports.