by Sam Reed
Chief Sealth International High School
Athletic Director/Activity Coordinator

While many kids their age are sleeping in and enjoying what remains of their summer vacation, a group of 18 individuals, including 9 from the West Seattle area, are headed to Colorado with Special Olympics of Washington and the Seattle Sounders for a weekend of soccer and fun.

Departing early this morning, The Unified Sports® Special Olympics Sounders team, comprised of some of the best athletes and partners in the region, are set to play a return match against a similar team from Colorado. Three weeks back a group representing Special Olympics Colorado travelled to Seattle and played in conjunction with the Colorado Rapids vs. Seattle Sounders FC Major League Soccer (MLS) game. That game was won by Seattle. A complete wrap-up can found on the Sounders FC website here.

Many of the players and coaches on the team come from the Seattle Schools Unified Soccer league. Special Olympics Unified Sports® brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. Unified Sports athletes improve their physical fitness, sharpen their skills, challenge the competition and have fun, too.

In all, more than half of the SO Sounders team headed to Colorado come from Chief Sealth International and West Seattle High Schools. Chief Sealth Head Coach Andrew Saldana is on the coaching staff, while players Morgan Hegge, Cameron O’Donnell, Christian Freitas, Ben Lee, Sydney Proctor, Karina Silva, Eric Swenson and Xahil McDonald all represent the Seahawks as either athletes or partners. Christian Estaban is on the team representing West Seattle. The complete roster and more information can be found on the Special Olympics Washington site, here.

You can follow along on their journey to Colorado on their blog, http://sosounders.blogspot.com/, as written by Angie Bounds, the charity coordinator for the Emerald City Supporters (ECS).