Special Olympics State Soccer Cup returns for 32nd year to Governor's Academy

Daily News of Newburyport - 10/29/2019

Oct. 29--BYFIELD -- The Governor's Academy has been the home to the annual Special Olympics Massachusetts State Soccer Cup since its inception, with the upcoming tournament marking its 32nd year Sunday.

The tournament is organized almost entirely by students, with more than 300 volunteering this year, and a large number of faculty and staff members helping out as well.

Co-directors Yanna Haginicolas and Kathryn Resnick are seniors who have been involved with the program since their freshman year.

"My mom is a special ed teacher," Resnick said. "Ever since freshman year, she always really encouraged me to get involved and she was really able to speak to how important this day is to the athletes and how important it is to their families."

Through that initial experience as a volunteer, Resnick said, "I was able to see firsthand how important it is to not only the athletes and their families, but also to our community."

"It kind of brings everyone together, especially because the majority of the student body volunteers," she said. "It's a really great day for everyone to just come together and unite with the athletes, have fun and do great things."

Speaking on why she applied for a co-director position this year, Haginicolas said, "It was honestly just a really enlightening experience for me and I just really enjoyed all three other years."

As she got older, Haginicolas said, "I'd love to put more effort into it and really take on this position."

More than 60 teams from across the state will participate in the all-day affair Sunday with an opening ceremony at 9 a.m. and competition following at 10 a.m.

The student volunteers are a huge part of the event, according to Charles Hirsch, director of development, brand and marketing for Special Olympics Massachusetts. They are involved with every aspect, including the competitions, field layout and speeches.

Through months of planning, students such as Haginicolas and Resnick learn valuable skills such as public speaking and accepting responsibility, they explained.

"What the students do here -- and what Katie and Yanna are doing -- there is no other high school in the state that organizes this size of a Special Olympics event," said Anna Finch, the program's faculty adviser for about the last 15 years.

"(Other schools) may hold some of the smaller kind of regional tournaments, but nobody does the statewide event," she said. "It really is a remarkable opportunity and feat to pull it off every year."

The tournament started in 1987 when Patty Crowe, a member of the admissions office at Governor's, wanted to bring her experience volunteering with Special Olympics to the school.

At first, the tournament involved three sports: soccer, equestrian and cycling. Finch said it was "much too much to kind of handle all three events so eventually, it transitioned to soccer itself."

Looking at how the program has progressed, Finch said, "We just have so many more students at Govs in general, who prior to coming to Govs, are already involved in Special Olympics or other similar kinds of programs, or they have siblings or other family members with special needs."

"It's really an experience, that I would say, more and more families are already connected to in some incredibly meaningful way," she said.

For more information, go to www.specialolympicsma.org/event/state-soccer-cup.

Staff writer Heather Alterisio can be reached via email at halterisio@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3149. Follow her on Twitter @HeathAlt.

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