By: Jason Scorcia
Chapter 1
I was born a long time ago! In fact, I’m actually 39 years old now. I was born on June 6th, 1982 and my Mom says that I was a “happy, go-lucky baby.” I think she means I smiled a lot, giggled a lot and probably played with my older brother Michael a lot too.
I bet my Mom was actually glad that I was a happy baby because when I was born that meant she had two kids, and then three years after me she had another baby – my younger brother Adam! Having three boys, all of us under the age of six, kept her and my Dad super busy all the time – but we all remember that there was always lots to laugh about. Do you have any siblings? A “sibling” is a fancy way of saying brother or sister. I guess in my family, having an older, AND a younger brother, means I am the “middle” child! Maybe you are too? I don’t have any sisters but these days, I’m old enough to be an UNCLE and I DO have a niece named Bobbie and she is pretty sweet! I also have two nephews named Brady and Cooper and it’s so much fun being an uncle in addition to a Special Olympics Superhero.
Anyway – back to my story! My family tells me that even when I was a little baby and then a toddler, I loved to play with balls of any kind. If it rolled, I loved it! In my life I have played basketball, ball hockey, bowling, golf, softball and more – in other words – a lot of the sports that I love are sports that involved using balls, and I just think they are the best!
If you like to play sports too, Special Olympics might be just right for you. There are programs geared to two different age groups and they are called Active Start and FUNdamentals. Active Start is the first chance for children, as young as two years old, to get involved with Special Olympics. It’s a ten week long introduction to all kinds of skills like rolling and throwing a ball and learning how to share. I sure wish there had been something like this when I was just a little superhero in training. I’m glad I had my brothers to play with but something like Active Start would have been a great opportunity for both me, and my parents, to make new friends by getting to know other Special Olympic families. If you’d like to learn more about Active Start click here and come back next week to read more about my superhero adventures!
Stay tuned next week as Jason's story continues. To donate and support Jason's Quest and Special Olympics Ontario, please click here.