Over the weekend, the Villanova Unified Sports Club won a gold and silver medal in volleyball at the Special Olympics Fall Festival. Due to its size, the club was split into two teams, the Villanova team and the Wildcat team, with the former taking the gold and the latter the silver.
This is only the first year in which the club competed at Fall Festival after years of hosting unified events, in which athletes with and without intellectual disabilities compete on the same team, throughout the year.
“All of the club sports teams were reached out to in the spring,” co-President Jasmine Soriano said. “We created an executive board and we planned throughout the summer to figure out what time our practices were and what we wanted to do in terms of planning as well. We started practicing the first week we got back to school and we’ve been practicing every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half every week.”
Unlike some club sports teams, in which tryouts are mandatory, and competition and practice are intense, the Unified Sports Club is more interested in bringing a more welcoming environment than a competitive one.
“I think it’s a club that really focuses on inclusivity,” Soriano said. “It’s a club that combines students with and without intellectual disabilities and it’s really a fun place for all of us to compete in competitive sports, while also having fun and making new friendships.”
“Practices are really fun and it’s cool to see from the beginning the amount of improvement that everyone has made,” Head of Student Engagement Grace Fonkalsrud said.
With the results over the weekend, the weekly practices seem to have paid off as the team went from the underdogs looking to break through in the tournament to the eventual leaders on the podium. Both teams did so well that they faced off against one another in the championship.
“It was really rewarding,” Fonkalsrud said. “I think it was great to play our other team in the championship, because either way, whoever won, our entire team won. I think that it was important that we had that inclusive mindset.”
“It felt super amazing because in the beginning we were not that good,” co-President Jake Keller said. “But now I’m just so happy for everyone and how much improvement they made throughout the year.
For the leaders of the club, the success came in large thanks to the effort and work put in by coach Molly Shawhan.
“She really did a lot of the work to get us where we are today,” Soriano said.
Though it will continue planning various events and tournaments, such as its unified tournament in the Fall, the Special Olympics tops as one of the clubs largest and most successful events.
“I just love the environment here,” Fonkalsrud said. “I think O-Town has always been one of my favorite parts. Just seeing everyone dancing, all the different foods, and seeing all the athletes and volunteers just come together in one big community has been great.”
“I love all the students supporting the different athletes,” Keller said
“I think the camaraderie from both teams is really my favorite part,” Soriano said.
The club plans on expanding into other sports besides volleyball in the upcoming year and putting on more inclusive events.
“We’re planning on competing in another sport next,” Soriano said. “We don’t know what yet, but we still have intramurals that we’re playing, and I think we plan on playing basketball perhaps to continue during the spring.”
While they are no longer practicing for Fall Festival, practices will still be held twice a week and anyone can join. For updates on practices and the club’s various events, follow them on instagram @villanovaunifiedsportsclub or reach out to one of the presidents through their Villanova email.
