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Elizabeth Bender
Special Olympics South Carolina
Public Relations Chair
(678)-428-2624
bender.elizabeth@gmail.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Note: Photos and Video Available
LOCALS GO FOR THE GOLD WITH A PERFECT ‘10’ IN BOCCE
Special Olympics South Carolina hosts Tenth Annual Bocce Bash Tournament
Charleston, S.C. — February 28, 2010 — What started as ten friends playing bocce, has multiplied ten years later, into a celebration of the special needs community with over 1,000 local supporters, friends and athletes coming together to raise funds for Special Olympics.
The Tenth Annual Bocce Bash will occur on Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 9 a.m. until sundown at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. The day will consist of 128 teams of four playing on 32 bocce courts competing in a tournament-style bracket for the chance to come home with the first place trophy. Athletes will be in attendance to cheer on the teams. All types of teams are welcome: corporate, family or groups of friends. Teams are asked to donate a minimum of $500 per entry. To register a team or get involved, those interested should call Paula Byers at 843-795-5316.
All funds raised during the Bocce Bash will go directly to Special Olympics South Carolina. Through this annual event, which brings in more than $75,000, athletes are able to receive proper sporting equipment and training year-round as well transportation and accommodations to State, National and World Games. Special Olympics South Carolina provides athletic competition in 18 sporting events for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
“Everyday we strive to create a community where individuals with intellectual disabilities are accepted and empowered. On days like the Bocce Tournament, I know that we are getting closer to this vision,” said Paula Byers, head of the Development Team for Charleston Special Olympics and proud sister of Eddie Gregory, a Special Olympics athlete. “Every year, we have a high rate of returning participants, and those people bring their friends, and those people, their friends. Charleston truly provides our athletes with the opportunity to achieve greatness through sports.”
Thanks in part to our major sponsors: Container Maintenance, The Charleston Battery and Atlas Technologies.
For all media inquiries, please contact Elizabeth Bender at 678-428-2624 or bender.elizabeth@gmail.com.
About the Special Olympics:
Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities, promoting acceptance for all, and fostering communities of understanding and respect worldwide. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to nearly 3.1 million athletes in 228 Programs in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training, athletic competition and other related programs. Special Olympics now takes place every day, changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in places like China and from regions like the Middle East to the community playgrounds and ball fields in every small neighborhood. Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage and experience joy and friendship. Visit South Carolina Special Olympics at www.so-sc.org.
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