On September 9th, Dulles Airport hosted it's 31st running of the Plane Pull for SOVA. Teams from companies, law enforcement agencies and SOVA sports from all over Virginia came out for an exciting day of "Plane Amazing" fun.

Area 26 was aided by a large corporate donation from Maxar Technologies, and overall managed to raise over $9600 to support local and State programs.

We had a team of 25 athletes (with both the Avengers and WarHawks out IN FORCE), coaches and Maxar volunteers at the ready to pull when nature decided the day was over. BIG lightning and storms on the way unfortunately caused the Airport safety personnel to pull the plug on the day.

Area 26 had several volunteer leaders who showed up even before opening to help out...

The Roney Family and Maxar Star Susan Perenic helped out amongst others at the Hamburger Stand.

Most of the Maxar portion of the SuperJets ready to flex!!

WarHawks chillin near the band

Avengers and WarHawks at the ready as superteam SuperJets!!

Some of the amazing aircraft on the static flight line for the show day

Lightning crashes, and we all have to leave early...

Registration is in full swing for the 18th Annual Special Olympics Area 26 Mark J. Emery Memorial Golf Tournament. This Fundraiser event helps to fund Special Olympics activities for 2100 athletes in 24sports. Our tournament needs your support - teams, players, donors, volunteers, and items for auction...

For additional information, please contact the Event Chair, Chuck Roney at [email protected]

We are happy to welcome Joe Smith, Veronica Jenning's replacement here in NOVA to the Area. Joe has worked in the non-profit and sport for good sector for the past ten years. Since graduating from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Joe has worked on both the international and domestic stage. Prior to joining Special Olympics Virginia, Joe worked for PeacePlayers International, an organization dedicated to bridging divides through the game of basketball. There he played various roles as a facilitator and leader, contributing to program growth and organizational development.

For many seasons now, members of the basketball programs in and around Fairfax have met for a Summer training program at GMU. Here is the latest group at their last practice of the season...Kudos to Coaches Jeff Eskridge and Barb Lotterer for returning every summer to run this great program!

The Special Olympics Virginia Area 26 Open Water Swim Team, Potomac River Dolphins, completed a 15.3 mile relay swim as part of the DC Marathon Swim. Team members Jenny Mitchell, Carl Alf, Rose Pleskow and Luke Ferris trained all summer with Wave One Swimming for this incredible event. The course began in the Potomac River near Chain Bridge, passed all the sites of DC and Alexandria and finished over 3 miles south of the Wilson Bridge. What an amazing experience for the team to see all the monuments from the water. The team had to navigate currents, winds, and tides throughout the day, but they all ended with smiles at its conclusion. The event proves once again that there are no limits in the athletic pursuits of Special Olympics Athletes. 

A tremendous amount of support went into this event to ensure the safety of the swimmers. The Potomac River Dolphins would like to thank the Joey Pizzano Memorial Fund for its financial support of this swim, Denis Crean and Wave One for their financial support and overall coordination of the event, technical coach Tom Hull, unified partners, John Ferris, David Kaizer and Chio Hatakeyama, kayakers Nora Jodrey and Keshawn Hiley, official observer Taylor Gunther, boat captains Bryce and Terry Mitchell, and parent support from Patti Alf, Susan Pleskow and John Ferris.

Davis Diamonds

Davis Dons

GMU Mason Nation

GMU Patriots (Coach Mike Frew - Black shirt in the middle of the group...) also runs the Youniquely Fit online program every week. A link for this is in the Online Section below!!

Eagles Blue

Quicksilvers

2023 Avengers [L to R]: (Front Row) Billy Duquette, Jay Choi and Tom Merz

(Middle Row) Sam Selnick, Kyler Reese, Hoang Phan, Tony Linthicum, Chris Robinson,

Coach Jim Warson, Nick Ortega and Austin Ward

(Back Row) Coach Barry Tilton, Stephen James, Matt Sapienza, Coach Matt Ellistion,

Sean Minnick, Max Hershberger and Nick Donlon

[L to R] Powerlifting Coach Bill Whiteside, Matt Whiteside and Coach Matt Elliston

For questions, please email the Alpine Ski Team coordinator, Ed Morrissey, at [email protected].

A: I love to spend time with friends and play videos games also watch other sports games plus other tv

A:  My favorite part about Speical Olympics is having fun in the tournaments and after the long games I love to party alongside my teammates

A: Volleyball Warhawks, softball Cougars, basketball Edison White. 

A: All Boston teams but if I hade to pick one I pick Boston Celtics.

A: Work, hangout with my family, hang out with my fiancé and hang out my friends

A: My Aunt Maria Murphy. She has a disability and she has over come it and has good job. It shows that I can do anything I put my mind to it. 

A: Getting to meet a lot of people. Making new friends. 

See at Fall Games and have a great season with Special Olympics 😊!!

Me: So, Coach, how long have you been involved in SO, and in what sports? 

Coach Matt: I have been a coach for 5 amazing years. I coach Powerlifting, Flag Football, and Basketball.

Me: Wow, that’s a lot. What is your favorite moment as a coach?

Coach: The best thing about coaching is watching my athletes grow. Teaching new skills that athletes can use on and off the field. One of my athletes came to Special Olympics from a hard situation and had a difficult time speaking to people. Today he has a job! As coaches some of our greatest achievements are off the court.

Me: It’s great to help people!! What are your current roles inside Special Olympics and in Area program? 

Coach: I was honored to be selected as the Virginia Powerlifting coach to the USA games where my athlete (Robert "the hulk" Harris ) took home 4 silver medals. I also coach the area 26 flag football team The Avengers. We have been 4 time Virginia state champions! Avengers Assemble!! I had to sit out most of last season, but I'm looking forward to getting back on the basketball court with the Lightning!

Me: That’s great – what are your goals for your teams this year? 

Matt: My powerlifters grow stronger and stronger every year. We are looking forward to the regional championships in Delaware and plan to take home the Gold in many of the categories! As for the Avengers, my superhero football team has a hard road ahead. Winning a state title 5 years in a row is not easy. Last year we won in overtime at the very end. The competition gets tougher every year. But I have faith my Avengers will be champions once again!

Me: I will sure do my part for the Avengers!! Before we finish, Anything you would like to say about your day job?

Matt: I’m incredibly proud to lead a federal law enforcement agency's Baltimore field office. My Officers work tirelessly to protect the people of the DC area and are the hardest working and most fearless patriots I have ever had the privilege of working with.

Me: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, and good luck (to both of us…) this Fall.

by Kyler Reese

-Do warm-ups: Regular stretching helps get the blood pumping and makes sure your muscles and tendons ready for play (and can even help prevent injury). Stretching after exercising is important too because it might reduce muscle tension and more

-Variety in your activities: Try to change your activities and sports that you participate in. Cross-training helps make sure that you don’t over-stress and over-use the same joints and muscles.

-Work on getting enough sleep: The researches say that athletes who got enough sleep every night were 68% likely to be less injured than their peers who did not get enough sleep.

-Eat right: It takes more than just eating a well-balanced diet to stay healthy. Make sure you have a regular meal schedule for eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

-Take downtime: Resting between practices, games, tournaments, and seasons to give yourself enough time to recuperate.

See you next time,

The US, the State of Virginia and SOVA have declared that the COVID pandemic is officially over. Area 26 is now operating under normal rules. As always, if you are sick, do not join in group activities where you might infect others. For those with compromised immune systems, Masks are recommended but not required.

Athlete families, please verify with your coaches that your paperwork has been approved before arriving for practice or events. The coaching and volunteer staff cannot accept the forms in person and grant immediate access, as SOVA has the approval authorization.

NOTE: When you submit the athlete paperwork via the [email protected] email address (and volunteer packages to the [email protected] address) they go both to the Area AND to SOVA for processing.

Athletes require renewal of their medical certifications every three years (dated from the doctor's signature). Athletes with an expired Medical Form will have to submit updates to all forms. The package now contains 7 pages - please complete and submit the full package (button below).

Athletes, please email completed athlete forms to: [email protected] (this will deliver them to both the Area AND to SOVA - only the one email address is required)

Volunteers, please email completed volunteer forms and certifications to: [email protected] (as with the athleteform email, this will deliver them to both the Area AND to SOVA - only the one email submission address is required)

We love to have pictures and articles of/about your Special Olympics activities. If you write them, we will post them!!

Please continue to share information about this newsletter and website with those you know in the community so that we can better share the wonder of our special athletes and volunteers. To sign up to receive the newsletter, go to our webform Newsletter Subscription

Email: [email protected]

Elaine Tilton

Jay Hoffmeier

Season Directors

Elaine Tilton, Fall/Winter

Nancy Julia, Spring/Summer

Barry Tilton

[email protected]

Tejas Patel

Kia Hill

Christine Fowler

Director, Potomac Region

Joe Smith

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