SAAC Brings Everybody Plays Initiative to Nebraska Athletics

Sinclaire Miramontez participated heavily with adaptive Physical Education for her classmates in high school. So when Miramontez met the Indiana University SAAC President and learned of their hope to get Big Ten schools involved with the "Everybody Plays" initiative, she could not help but to advocate for Nebraska's participation. The Everybody Plays initiative promotes inclusion through sport by giving Special Olympic athletes the chance to play the sports that they love in the University of Nebraska facilities with Husker student-athletes supporting them. 
 
Through Nebraska Life Skills, Miramontez led SAAC in a partnership with Special Olympics Nebraska to develop each Everybody Plays event. The hope is to host a couple different sporting events a semester and include as many Nebraska sports as possible. With basketball and bowling being popular for Special Olympics Nebraska athletes, the first two events focused on these two sports. 
 
"I wanted to bring this opportunity to Nebraska because I think that it is a great way to connect our athletic department to the community through the power of sport. For me, working with Special Olympians is a blessing." said Miramontez. 
 
On September 29th, SAAC and Life Skills hosted the first Everybody Plays event of the school year centered on Basketball in the Hendricks Women's Basketball Gymnasium. With over 70 special Olympic athletes and over 50 Nebraska student-athletes from multiple sports, the basketball event began with a warm-up and stretching. Then athletes were split into stations to develop different skills including dribbling, passing, shooting, and defense. Finally, Special Olympic Nebraska athletes and Husker student-athletes played 2-on-2 before receiving certificates of participation and bracelets. 
 
Following the Basketball event, Life Skills and SAAC also hosted the Everybody Plays Bowling Event on Sunday, October 6th. Over 50 Special Olympics athletes and 40 Nebraska student-athletes gathered for an afternoon of bowling and community. Special Olympics athletes were split into lanes, and the Nebraska Bowling team led instruction. Student-athletes from other sports attended to cheer on the athletes from Special Olympics Nebraska throughout the afternoon. Following the event, the Nebraska Bowling team presented each Special Olympics athlete with a certificate and a bracelet. 
 
Nate Parks, Vice President of Special Olympics Nebraska, commented "It has been great to see a partnership like this unfold, and we are looking forward to seeing this partnership grow in the future.  The athletes of Special Olympics Nebraska have the ability to demonstrate what true athleticism looks like, and it is powerful to see Special Olympics athletes working with Nebraska athletes in showing the world what sports can do for a person's life."
 
For more information on Everybody Plays events to come, reach out to Kate Frazier from Nebraska Life Skills.