Special Olympics flag football gets ready for NC State competition

ESPN and WRAL will be there, UNC athletes will be there, ROTC will be there and the UNC Dance Team will be there.  

This is no run-of-the-mill UNC-NC State sporting event, folks. It’s the Special Olympics flag football championship.

This Sunday on Hooker Fields, UNC Special Olympics and NC State Special Olympics will face off in ESPN’s Unified Sports Rivalry Series in flag football. 

Through this series, both UNC student volunteers and Special Olympics athletes alike team up to have fun and play a sport that's inclusive for all.

UNC Special Olympics president Alyssa Taflinger, a sophomore, said the intent for this event is to make it similar to a varsity athletic event. 

“We want a bunch of people to come out to support the athletes,” she said. “We want them to feel the support and inclusion from our community.”

As campus president, Taflinger said she's in charge of making sure everyone involved is doing their part to make the event run smoothly, and is in charge of leading the executive committee of UNC Special Olympics.

Also on the executive board is sophomore Megan Balentine, who is in charge of social media for the organization. 

Balentine said she met Taflinger in kindergarten and the two went to an inclusion-based summer camp together. They've been best friends ever since.

“I went to a summer camp that was an inclusion-based camp with kids who are typically developing and kids with disabilities,” Balentine said. “I made my best friends there, and a lot of them have disabilities. I love being with them and advocating for them.”

Along with advocating for them, UNC Special Olympics is now finding a way for the athletes to advocate for themselves. They are currently in the process of instating their newest member of their executive board, Scott Lambeth, an active Special Olympics athlete who will be the voice of the athletes on the board. He'll begin right after flag football season ends. 

“We thought it was really important to have a person with disabilities help making the decisions,” Balentine said.

Balentine said the best thing a person can do for somebody with an intellectual or developmental disability is to be a friend. She also said it's important to have an organization like Special Olympics on campus because it helps build meaningful relationships, regardless of ability level, and helps show those relationships to college-aged people.

And many college students are involved. Colleen Lanigan, Special Olympics coordinator for Orange County, said there are about 40 college volunteers within each season.  

When there are tournaments and championships, there are even more volunteers.

“It isn’t coaching, it’s purely for fun and to meet some new friends. It’s a different kind of way to get college kids to break down some of those social barriers between people,” she said. “You’re a peer, and you play together. Everyone has a part in making the dynamic to be successful.”

With this event specifically, Taflinger, Balentine and Lanigan said they hope UNC students come out to support the athletes. However, Lanigan also said it is important remember all of the other things that Special Olympics does.

“I really do hope people come out and support this event, because it really is a cool event,” Lanigan said. 

“But don’t forget that every other day, there are a hundred other people busting their butts and training every single day and that deserves a lot of recognition, too. The breadth of the program really does elude the population.”

swerve@dailytarheel.com