Sports Day 2017

One of our outstanding community events is our annual Sports Day, which is put on in conjunction with the McHenry High School football team. The players learn about DS prior to the event, plan the activities and carry out all aspects of the day.  Each player is then paired up or buddied up with a child from the playhouse for the morning. Returning players frequently request to be paired with their buddy from the previous year. The kids from the playhouse who participate each year also ask to be paired with their previous buddy if they have not graduated yet. This year was no exception.

As usual, the football team came out en masse from the beginning to partner with the playhouse. The experienced player volunteers helped educate the younger players in everything from issues specific to Down syndrome to choices of activities to ways to engage their new buddy. This year we had Dom, a quiet but highly effective leader, take on the role of main communicator with the team and the playhouse. He jumped in many times to make sure the entire volunteer team knew what was happening, from meeting dates to items to bring to the event. He was once again paired with Ava, a bright and smiling 11 year old.

There was Jack, who for the fourth year, was paired with Jake-tried and true buddies.

The children ranged from age 1 to 14 years old. The youngest child was paired with a senior, who was more than a little unsure of what he could do with this baby at such a huge and “physical” event. We sat down and discussed each of the activities, ways to modify them and how to ensure the baby had some successes, too. Based on the grins from both of them throughout the morning, they both had a wonderful time!

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Because there were a few more volunteers than kids from the playhouse, some of the kids got to have 2 buddies! Their smiles tell the whole story!

wonderful morning of laughing and friendship. The head coach, his wife and their sons, also joined in on the fun and treated everyone to some fabulous t-shirts. One of the goals of the playhouse includes educating the community about Down syndrome. Sports Day has been one of our most enjoyable community educational activities and will continue for years to come!

Every picture reflects a hint of the joy we felt from everyone the entire morning.