USA South In Special Olympics Spotlight Poll - VOTE!!!
(FAYETTEVILLE, NC)—The USA South Athletic Conference has been selected to be featured in this month's NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight Poll for its involvement with Special Olympics during the Conference Spring Sports Festival. The Spotlight Poll is a new story-telling initiative located at www.ncaa.org/D3SpecialOlympics. It features three new stories per month – each highlighting a Division III and Special Olympics joint activity or event.
The USA South conducted all six of its 2012 spring championships at the annual Spring Sports Festival in Burlington, North Carolina from April 12-15. An added bonus to the tournaments was the presence of Special Olympics Alamance County athletes who helped open and close each of the tournaments. The Special Olympians were at each venue and threw out first pitches, hit ceremonial first tee-shots and high-five starters as each tournament got underway. The athletes also took part in closing awards ceremonies. VIEW THE FULL STORY HERE! VIEW PHOTOS HERE!
The USA South is asking all of its institutions, student-athletes and fans to vote for the Conference's story! To vote, please visit the following link, scroll to the middle of the page and choose the USA South:
***VOTE FOR THE USA SOUTH HERE***
The story with the highest number of votes on the 25th day of each month is the winner. That institution or conference will be given $500 to use for its next Special Olympics event. Other perks for winning include being recognized in the Division III Monthly Newsletter and on the Division III Special Olympics website.
This Special Olympic involvement stems from the 2011 NCAA Convention when the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Special Olympics announced a partnership. This partnership is designed to improve the lives of Special Olympics athletes through their involvement with Division III student-athletes and to foster a mutual learning experience between Division III student-athletes and Special Olympics athletes.
The USA South's involvement with Special Olympics began in the fall (see here) as athletes from the Stonewall Therapeutic Center in Danville, Virginia joined the starting lineups of USA South women's soccer tournament finalists, Christopher Newport University and Shenandoah University. Also, this spring, during the USA South's spring community initiative "Pennies for a Purpose", Conference institutions raised $1,638.91(see here) to be donated to local Special Olympic organizations. Currently, several USA South institutions have long standing relationships their local Special Olympic organizations.
