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Kinkaid's Special Olympics Bocce Ball Tournament 2018

By Brady Brazda, The Kinkaid School, School Buzz Reporter | October 22, 2018

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The medals awarded to the athletes after the tournament. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Ed Trusty)

On Saturday, Oct. 13, Special Olympics athletes, Kinkaid student volunteers such as myself, parents and Kinkaid school staff all descended on the football field, Segal Field, on the campus of The Kinkaid School. Kinkaid’s annual Special Olympics Bocce Ball tournament is an annual event, which is always one of the most popular.

Many students apply but do not have the chance to participate. Luckily for me, I have been chosen as a volunteer for all four years of high school, this year serving as a court captain. All student participants are trained in the weeks leading up to the event, and the court captains have a mandatory training in order to learn skills to assist the athletes and others who volunteer on each court.

Even though it was a hot and humid day, everyone had a great time welcoming the athletes at check-in at 8 a.m., followed by Opening Ceremony, competition on each bocce court, and ending with Closing Ceremony and awards around 3 p.m.

Kinkaid’s Community Service Council works hard to plan, organize and host this Special Olympics event. This year’s major student contributors included senior Tyler Baldridge, senior Gleith Cozby and senior Callie Rosenthal, and teacher coordinator, Ms. Tatum Branaman. These 23 Kinkaid student volunteers worked at the event: Jake Adamson, Brady Brazda, Kate Carmain, Charlotte Carr, Merritt Cozby, Nicholas Dillon, Arden Fayard, Jonathan Frumovitz, Gabriella Fuller, Lila Griggs, Alice Hogan, Jackson Lane, Allison Le, Jacob Magelssen, Jack Mitchell, Lauren Moak, Ameer Mustafa, Chase Pelter, Katherine Sarvadi, Molly Smith, Emma Stout, Skylar Swanson and Louisa Zaharia.

For me, as with the other three years, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this event, meeting and working with the athletes, and feeling extremely proud that my school, Kinkaid, hosts this Special Olympics event each year.