The look on their faces said it all.
Last weekend’s Special Needs Soccer Festival at Victoria Park in Fergus brought out roughly 65 special needs athletes from Centre Wellington, Halton Hills, Kitchener and Guelph.
Fergus Elora District Soccer (FEDS) president and festival organizer Pat Espina said the day celebrated the first such festival hosted by the club.
Espina explained the festival is something he’d thought about having for some time.
The local special needs soccer program began in Centre Wellington in 2009 and has been quite successful, he said.
“This is just a continuation of what we started four years ago,” Espina said.
When asked about the volunteer effort to bring the festival to life, he laughed and said it had taken about six months.
“There are a lot of volunteers and people that came here to help,” said Espina.
The early afternoon featured two sets of games for teams.
Following that were carnival games with a dunk tank and other soccer-related games.
Espina said the players received free food and drinks.
“At the end of the day, everyone gets free cake … the most important part of the whole thing,” he said with a laugh.
Espina was pleased to see the number of people attending.
“There will be lots of food and cake and trophies.”
“This is all possible because of FEDS, our local soccer club,” Espina said.
He estimated there are 1,200 players this summer.
“We keep on growing and many places are trying to catch up with us.” He said the event is only possible due to the efforts of the club, the board members, and the many volunteers.
“The nice thing is that we have everybody together. We can all join for a fun day today,” Espina added.
Special guests at the festival included Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj, Ward 1 councillor Kelly Linton and Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott.
Espina said, “We thought we’d make this truly official by playing our national anthem.”
Ross-Zuj asked those in attendance to congratulate both Espina and his wife Irene for all the hard work done.
Arnott said it was great to see all those attending.
“I anticipate seeing a day of great competition,” he said.
Arnott too thanked organizers for working to create this “unique and wonderful festival” that “will stand as an example for other communities.”
Ross-Zuj added, “It is my real pleasure to now declare the games officially open.”
“All right let’s get to the fields,” Espina said.
A feature on the Centre Wellington special needs soccer program was published in the June 28 Inside Wellington. It can be viewed at wellingtonadvertiser.com.
