Save the date, May 6, 2023. The Long Island Special Olympics Spring Games North are returning to Farmingdale. The Athletic Complex at Howitt Middle School is set to host the competition.
“We are incredibly excited for the Spring Games, not only for the competition but also to be coming back to Farmingdale schools,” said Stacey Hengsterman, President and CEO of Special Olympics New York. “On behalf of the hundreds of athletes who will participate in Spring Games, thank you to Superintendent Defendini as well as the district faculty, coaches, and community volunteers who are making it possible.”
The Spring Games anticipate having over 500 athletes, 150 coaches, and hundreds of spectators and volunteers. Howitt Middle School will host events such as track and field and power-lifting. The brand new Aquatic Center at Howitt Middle School will host swimming events. Allen Park will host the tennis portion of the event.
Farmingdale School District will begin to reach out to those in the community to help take part in this event, which will be held on May 6, 2023. Those interested can help in three ways. The first will be through the volunteer effort of getting the facility ready leading up to the event and then helping clean up and get the facility back to normal. Second, the district will rely on local vendors to help establish the Olympic Village. Specifically, the district will be looking for vendors to provide games and workshops for people to participate in. Third, the Special Olympics will be looking for donations to help get the event running.
“This is a massive volunteer effort,” said Defendini. “We’re going to need a tremendous amount of volunteers to get this event off the ground. Farmingdale is a great place for that. We’re the kind of community when help is needed - help is there.”
Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing information about how you can sponsor and/or participate in the games.
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Highlights from last spring's Special Olympic Games