On Saturday, November 20th Princeton Athletics and Best Buddies Princeton teamed up for their first-ever all abilities sports clinic. Best Buddies, a global nonprofit organization pairs individuals with intellectual disabilities together with social mentors in their community to create lasting friendships and promote inclusivity.
To help work towards this mission, approximately 100 Princeton student-athletes came together to establish a Princeton Best Buddies Field Day which brought 70 “best buddies” to campus for a fun morning of outdoor games. The event featured modified sports stations that were coached by a variety of teams, including soccer, football, lacrosse, and golf just to name a few. Participants were divided into teams and led through a rotation of 10 stations, competing to see which group could score the most points in games like football toss, putting contests, and goal kicks.
After cheering their friends on for nearly two hours, the Tigers then treated the group to a pizza party inside Jadwin Gymnasium. There the buddies enjoyed an afternoon of food, raffles, and lots of laughter.
“It is amazing to see the impact that Princeton student-athletes can have when we all come together. Being able to see the smiles on the participant’s faces is what it is all about,” said Colin Freer ’24, one of the primary event leaders. “As Princeton student-athletes, we are fortunate enough to have a platform to make a real difference, and we look forward to continuing to make an impact within and around the Princeton community.”
Click here to see a full photo gallery from the event.
