By: Jason Scorcia
Chapter 3
When I first started thinking about writing these stories about my Special Olympics adventures, it was the high school years that I was most excited to write about. If you, or someone you love, is about to head off to high school, I want to tell you that these years were some of the best of my life because that’s where I became a lot more confident! In fact, maybe my real Superhero journey started in high school when I made lots of new friends.
Grade 8 graduation was a fun time and we had a dance party afterwards, and then it was off to Robert F Hall Secondary School! I wore a uniform to my high school, and because I had spent a lot of time at Sick Kids Hospital when I was younger, learning how to read and doing speech therapy and lots of other things, by the time I got to high school I was ready to do and try new things, to volunteer and to help out in my community.
Remember all those sports I already mentioned? By the time I reached high school and for a long time after I graduated, I was learning even more sports! Golf is something I really love to do and I have played a lot of golf as part of Special Olympics. In fact, I’ve won some of my more than 50 Olympic medals in golf!
I became involved with the Special Olympics organization in 1998. That means I’ve been playing sports, volunteering, and raising money for Special Olympics for over 20 years now! Some of the other sports I also participated in and won medals for during this time include: swimming, soccer, bowling, softball, bocce ball, and oh yes – I was still playing basketball too. Because of my Special Olympics Volunteer training, I have also been a coach for bocce ball in Caledon, the community I am proud to call home.
I like to think that Superheroes have all kinds of special skills, and being “good” at a sport is not the only thing that matters. Superheroes are kind people who like to do things for others as well. When I learned more about Special Olympics by becoming involved with them, I also wanted to help them. It’s really important to me that I help and encourage people to get involved. One of the most important messages I can share about becoming a superhero is that by getting involved in Special Olympics, you will enjoy sports and being involved with a great organization; you’ll make new friends that you’ll have for life, and you will get to connect with others in a way that’s all about having fun.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can volunteer with Special Olympics, or help to support Jason’s Quest – the charity I started to help families cover the costs of getting involved with Special Olympics – click here for more details.
More of Jason's story to come!
To donate and support Jason's Quest and Special Olympics Ontario, please click here.