Nathan Jacobs is a 29-year-old jack of all trade multi-sport athlete, who competes in just about everything, including bocce, golf, skiing and bowling and competes for the Area P Special Olympics team. 

Growing up, Jacobs was always a friendly kid. His favorite things to do were going to school and playing sports. When he was only 12 years old, he first began competing with Special Olympics. Since then, he has blossomed into an extremely successful multi-sport athlete. 

However, there is one important key to Jacobs’ success that one cannot forget: his family. Jacobs grew up with a pair of loving parents, Sue Ann and Doug, who supported him every step of the way. In fact, when he first began competing in Special Olympics Unified events five years ago, Jacobs knew exactly who he wanted to be his partner: his father. 

Nathan and Doug first competed together in golf. In Unified Golf, the partners take turns on each stroke. They golfed for a few years, and still do for fun, but now focus on another event: bocce. They practiced at least once a week together in a local high school. By the time the 2017 Villanova Fall Fest came around, the father-son duo was prepared to enter their first unified bocce competition with a bang. 

Villanova’s Fall Fest is always one of Jacobs’ favorite weekends of the year, thanks to what he and his father call the “one-of-a-kind Villanova community.” However, Fall Fest last year meant significantly more to the Jacobs family. 2017 Fall Fest bocce also served as a qualifier for the Special Olympics National Games. The most successful pairs would be sent to the National Games in Seattle, as members of Team Pennsylvania. This location was special to Nathan and Doug. Nathan’s sister and her children currently live in Seattle. This was in the back of their mind as they notched victory after victory on the bocce court throughout the weekend. 

All the hard work and dedication culminated in a selection to Team Pennsylvania for the 2018 National Games, just as they hoped. Not only were Nathan and Doug able to go see their family in Seattle, but they brought home some hardware as well, receiving a silver medal for their efforts. 

Family may be extremely important in the Jacobs household, but that doesn’t mean Jacobs held back any jokes when talking about his father. The quintessential star of the duo Jacobs stated in an interview, “I carry my dad,” which was met with hearty laughs from Doug and Sue Ann. Jacobs then went on to playfully tease his father for the moment he cried after the two were selected to Team Pennsylvania. But even with all the joking around, writing from the perspective of their former Local Program Host, it’s clear the Jacobs family is one unlike any other.   

Nathan and Doug went home with another gold this past weekend at Villanova’s 2018 Fall Fest.