South Section Highlights - April/May 2008

     SOMA South got ready for its busiest annual competition season from late April through early 

     June...working with our strong volunteer Games Management Teams, we “planned to execute

then executed the plan.”

April/May Program Highlights:

• Said goodbye to Taunton’s Ron Arieta, known as the founder and first volunteer of the Special Olympics Massachusetts state chapter, and athlete Chelsea Ann Ponte of Westport, who both sadly passed away in April. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Ron’s wife Carol, the entire Arieta family, and the entire Ponte family.

• Delivered an extremely successful South Section Aquatics Assessment Round at Bridgewater State College on 4/27 for 230 athletes – thanks also to event sponsor Bridgewater Savings Bank

• Held the latest Brockton School Day Games in developmental ice skating (4/9) for more than 50 athletes and track & field (5/7) for 341 athletes & Unified^® partners

• 2008 Brockton School Day Games athletes now total 170 bowlers, 264 ice skaters and 341 track & field athletes

• 5/7 featured corporate volunteer groups from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Ocean Spray, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield

• Ran the largest ever Attleboro School Day Games – featuring more than 500 pre-registered athletes – on 5/1 at Attleboro High.

• SOMA’s new Taunton Public Schools’ track & field team participated for the first time ever

• Managed our two marquis South Section Track & Field Games – 5/3 at Barnstable High and 5/10 at Brockton High – despite inclement weather both days, top-notch competition and festive fun were had by all

• 5/3 featured a new corporate volunteer group from Sovereign Bank

• 5/10 featured new corporate volunteer groups from HarborOne Credit Union and the Masons – plus a first-ever Healthy Athletes “FunFitness” screening for more than 3 dozen athletes

• Several new local programs held their first-ever practices:

• Greater Taunton Aquatics (4/19 @ Taunton Boys & Girls Club – practices every Saturday 9:30-10:30am until mid-June

• Swansea Volleyball (5/5 @ Case Jr. High – practices every Monday 2:30-3:30pm through 6/9)

• Swansea Track & Field (5/7 @ Case High track – practices every Wednesday 5-6pm through 6/11)

• 5 new South Section volleyball teams competed in the May 10 Volleyball Assessment Round at Wayland High – Attleboro Schools, Cardinal Cushing School, Mansfield, North Attleboro Schools, and New Bedford

• Continued planning of Dartmouth School Day Games (5/16), Cape Cod School Day Games (5/30), and the blockbuster Brockton Public School “Young Athletes Week” serving 850 integrated students across 3 school-day events (June 2-6)

Fundraising & Development Highlights:

• Held successful “Shoot For The Gold” 5-on-5 basketball tournament fundraiser on 4/19 in Dartmouth – more than $6,000 raised

• Continued planning of first-ever Bristol County Law Enforcement Torch Run leg on 6/8/08 – adding to existing LETR legs in Plymouth (6/6) and Barnstable Counties (6/12) – overall FR goal is $18K

• Appeared on CBS TV-4 (story on 2008 SOMA Hall of Fame inductee Jess MacDonald), WVBF-AM radio in Taunton (featuring Global Messenger Amanda Church), and Swansea Public Access TV and Taunton Cable Access TV (hour-long interviews about SOMA South Section activities and opportunities)

• Thanked our two terrific Spring interns – Kevin Wolfe (Stonehill College) and Danielle Dufresne (Bridgewater State) – and welcomed our three Summer interns – Lauren Goyette (Brandeis U.), Sam Baglioni (Bridgewater State), and Dave Barkhouse (Stonehill)