Special Olympics Connecticut has announced the return of its annual Unified Sports Fall Festival, presented by Mohegan Sun, along with its Fall Festival bocce competition to the city’s Old Grove Park bocce courts Sept. 14-15. It hearkens back to the city being a host site during the Special Olympics World Games in 1995.
“The Fall Festival will be a celebration of inclusion and athletic excellence and bring together hundreds of athletes of all abilities and their Unified Sports teammates from across the state,” said Debbie Horne, Special Olympics Connecticut’s senior director of communications and marketing.
On both days in West Haven, the opening ceremony will start at 9 a.m. and the bocce competition at 9:30 a.m. in Old Grove Park, 1 Palace St.
“I am beyond excited to bring back home and host the Special Olympics Connecticut bocce competition in West Haven, the venue where it all started in July 1995 when the city hosted the Special Olympics World Games bocce competition,” Mayor Dorinda Borer said. “This is a full-circle moment for our city, and I encourage all residents to attend and cheer on these amazing athletes.”
The city last hosted the bocce competition nine years ago. The courts were donated and constructed by Special Olympics Connecticut in 1995.
The Unified Sports Fall Festival is open to the public and free to attend. Spectators are strongly encouraged to come out and cheer on athletes, Horne said.
In addition to the bocce competition in West Haven, sailing will take place at The Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, softball at the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Club in East Hartford and golf at Sleeping Giant Golf Course in Hamden on Sept. 14-15.
Then, on Sept. 28-29, the croquet competition will take place at the Ocean House in Rhode Island.
For more information, visit https://www.soct.org/, email specialolympicsct@soct.org or call 203-230-1201. Also, follow Special Olympics Connecticut on Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
In between their games, participants at the Fall Festival softball venue will have an opportunity to take part in health activities, including oral health education offered by volunteers from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine and performance stations.
Performance stations aim to promote athletes’ well-being and competition readiness. Both activities are made possible through the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program.
In addition to presenting sponsor Mohegan Sun, sponsors of the Unified Sports Fall Festival include: the Nicholas and Karen Zoccoli Family, diamond sponsor; Steven J. Suzio Memorial Golf Tournament, gold sponsor; Feroleto Steel Co., KBE Foundation, Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates PC, PGA-Connecticut Section, and the Singer Family, bronze sponsors; Chelsea Groton Bank Foundation and Dime Bank Foundation, supporting sponsors; Centreville Bank, Niantic Lions Club and Walter Camp Football Foundation, contributing sponsors; and Hearst Connecticut Media Group, iHeartRadio Connecticut, and NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, media sponsors.
Special Olympics Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
The Unified Sports Fall Festival is not only a celebration of athleticism and inclusion but a testament to the power of community and volunteerism. Participants will be supported by volunteers of all ages from the community and local organizations, companies and businesses.
Special Olympics Connecticut provides year-round sports training and competitions for more than 12,000 athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities and Unified Sports partners — their teammates without disabilities. Through the joy of sport, the Special Olympics movement transforms lives and communities throughout the state and in 190 countries around the world by promoting good health and fitness and inspiring inclusion and respect for people of all abilities, on and off the playing field.
The partner sponsors are: Bozzuto’s Inc., Connecticut Elks Association, Enterprise, ESPN, Eversource, The Hometown Foundation, Knights of Columbus, Law Enforcement Torch Run, NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, Pratt & Whitney, Webster Bank, and WWE.
The year-round suppliers are: Adams Hometown Markets/IGA Hometown Supermarkets, Bozzuto’s Inc., Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, iHeartRadio Connecticut, N&D Sports, NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, Pepperidge Farm, Connecticut Judicial Branch Community Service, and WORX.