Norwich University to host an inclusive recreational basketball tournament for Special Olympics Vermont

Norwich University will host an inclusive recreational basketball tournament for Special Olympics Vermont this Saturday, April 13 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Plumley Armory.

With 18 teams attending from around the state, this event is the kickoff to the annual Special Olympics Vermont basketball season and includes Traditional teams composed of athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities; Unified teams composed of team members both with and without disabilities. Fourteen Individual Skills athletes are also slated to compete.

The event is facilitated in partnership with Norwich University’s physical education department, the first program of its kind at an American college or university.

“The Special Olympics Vermont Basketball tournament is a wonderful event that students in the Organization and Administration in Physical Education course plan, organize, and facilitate,” Norwich Lecturer of Physical Education Angie Carpenter-Henderson said. “This is a great opportunity for our students to apply their learning and engage with the amazing athletes that will be participating in the tournament. Our students have been working incredibly hard and are looking forward to welcoming the SOVT athletes on campus."

Founded in 1971, Special Olympics Vermont has been providing sports and training for athletes with intellectual disabilities throughout the state for more than 50 years. Norwich has been hosting tournaments and other events on campus since the ’80s. Norwich University began facilitating a Special Olympics soccer event at nearby U-32 Middle and High School in 1986, until the event moved to Norwich’s Northfield, Vermont campus in 1989, where it has continued. Norwich has hosted Special Olympics Vermont’s Annual Basketball Tournament for 20 years, and the Young Athletes Program over the past 10 years. In 2016, Norwich’s partnership with the athletes grew to include hosting the Unified Schools Soccer Tournament and the inaugural Fall Games. Between those events and the annual Penguin Plunge, approximately 100-200 Norwich students work with Special Olympics Vermont athletes and programs annually.

In 2016, Norwich University’s Center for Civic Engagement began a program that oversees a student-run organization dedicated to partnering with Special Olympics Vermont called Unify. The program uses the Special Olympics Unified Fitness model while meeting weekly with local athletes and allies to train and build skills around various sports and general physical fitness and wellness.

Also in 2016, Special Olympics Vermont named Norwich University Organization of the Year.

"Norwich University's partnership with Special Olympics Vermont exemplifies the transformative power of collaboration, uniting academic excellence with inclusive sportsmanship,” said Special Olympics Vermont President & CEO, Sarah McCaffrey. “Together, we champion diversity, empower individuals, and inspire communities to embrace the limitless potential within every athlete."

***

About Special Olympics Vermont
Special Olympics Vermont is part of a global movement that works year-round to foster the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities by using the power of sport to showcase their gifts and abilities. For more information, visit www.specialolympicsvermont.org.

About Norwich University
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).  www.norwich.edu