Daniel Hand Football Players Give Back To The Community, Assist Special Olympics Athletes

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

MADISON, CT – August is always a busy month for Daniel Hand High School athletes as they put in preparation for another upcoming sports season. But this year has been especially busy as in addition to prepping for sports several of the athletes and coaches have been doing volunteer work in the community, notably Special Olympics Connecticut.

The players and coaches participated, on August 12th in Wallingford, and will participate again on September 10th in North Branford, at two Special Olympic events.

The efforts have been coordinated by head football coach Dave Mastroianni, who has overseen community involvement work by the student-athletes.

Also helping is Daniel Ives, a special education teacher and volunteer football coach at Hand.

Ives said: “We are proud of our player’s commitment and hoped to share their contribution to help inspire youth in our community.”

Of Mastroianni’s commitment, Ives said: “He has put an emphasis this offseason on finding community service opportunities that are emotionally meaningful and provide our players with chance for self-development, particularly with empathy and compassion.

“His (Mastroianni’s) goal is for us to take the many blessing we are provided with and share them with others. Although we coach them in football, our main goal is to help them become better men,” Ives added.”

Several of the players took the time to share their thoughts about the experience working with Special Olympics.

Matt Maxwell, a senior at Hand who plays football and basketball, was an umpire at the event.

He said the most meaningful part of the experience “was seeing the job it brought to the athletes while playing.” He added what gave him satisfaction was “interacting with people who aren’t given the same opportunities.”

Added 10th-grader Jack Hughes, a football and lacrosse player, who worked as an announcer at Special Olympics, he found “the most meaningful part of this experience as communicating and connecting with the athletes.”

Michael Gravino, an 11th grade football player, said of the Special Olympians: “They didn’t care about the score – rather they enjoyed doing something they loved without being judged.” Gravino set up and helped served lunch to the athletes.

Kevin Hughes, a 12th-grade football and lacrosse player, kept score during the Special Olympics. He said the experience was rewarding “because we got to see first-hand how our help helps others.”

Eleventh-grader Brandon Busco, a football player, worked on food preparation and helped unload sports equipment at the event. He said “the most meaningful part of volunteering was being able to see how happy the athletes were when we would talk with them.”

Joe Thomas, a senior who plays football, helped out everywhere during the Special Olympics. He said what he liked about the experience was “I saw that whether someone messes up or not that their team will still cheer them on.”

Maden McDonald, 11th grade football and lacrosse player, timed and called the games, said just seeing “how much fun the athletes were having under circumstances that makes it harder for them” was fulfilling for him..

Submitted photos