Fifteen Special Olympic athletes from Niles West and Niles North will be competing in the Bocce Tournament held at Pioneer Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. This event will take place on Sunday, Sept. 25, with the competition starting at 9:15 a.m.

According to the Special Olympics website, their mission is to provide “year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports 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 Olympic athletes, and the community.”

The team participates in four Special Olympic events, and even have their own special mascot.

“Our school participates in four events: bocce, basketball skills, track and field, and bowling, and our team is made up of students from both Niles North and Niles West. We have a special mascot for our team, the Dragons. Our team actually has about 40 athletes who can participate in either all of the sports or just one,” special education teacher Sean DeFelice said.

After practicing after school and during summer school, the athletes now have an understanding of the rules and history of bocce.

“Our 15 athletes for bocce have been working very hard for the tournament on September 25th. We practice outside after school and even practiced over the summer during summer school. They’ve learned the rules of bocce as well as where the sport originated,” DeFelice said.

The team is always looking for student volunteers to help out at practices, so if a student is interested, they should contact Mr. DeFelice by email ([email protected]).