By: centraljersey.com
LAWRENCE – It wasn’t the snip of a ribbon, but the kick of a soccer ball by the Special Olympics athletes in an exhibition game that really marked the official dedication of the TD Sports Field at the Special Olympics New Jersey headquarters Sunday afternoon.
Dozens of Special Olympic athletes and their supporters, along with TD Bank officials and employees, Special Olympics New Jersey officials and Mayor Michael Powers, were on hand to dedicate the field in a biting wind.
"Let’s get fired up," Mayor Powers told the audience.
The $400,000 field, located at the SONJ Sports Complex on Princess Road, is important because it allows the Special Olympics athletes to play "on regulation playing fields, under the lights with a scoreboard and spectator seating," said Marc Edenzon, president of SONJ.
"Special Olympic athletes throughout the state very rarely have the opportunity to schedule a high school or college facility of this caliber for practice or competition," Mr. Edenzon said. "Very rarely are our athletes invited to be part of school teams. Everyone in the community will be allowed to play on this field, because we would never exclude any athlete from playing on our teams."
"The TD Sports Field will serve many purposes," he said. "While it will provide a first-class venue for soccer and flag football team training, league and tournament play, it will also serve as the venue that brings together the community and includes them on the same field of play with our athletes."
Special Olympics athletes "will achieve greatness and many sports stories will be written in years to come," Mr. Edenzon said. TD Bank will never know of the impact it will be making on the lives of the athletes and their families, he said.
Mr. Edenzon thanked Fred Graziano, who is the head of retail banking for TD Bank, and the employees who turned out for the dedication ceremony, "on behalf of our more than 21,000 athletes." The bank employees all wore green and white, which is the bank’s color scheme.
Mr. Graziano said it was an honor for TD Bank to have the athletic field – "the first of its kind (to be used exclusively for Special Olympics)" – dedicated in its name. The TD Bank and TD Ameritrade are firm believers in Special Olympics, he said. Together, they have raised more than $2 million for Special Olympics in the past two years.
The artificial turf field will be used by the Special Olympics athletes to play soccer and flag football. It can be used to host numerous Special Olympics events, including league and tournament play as well as individual skills and team training.
The field also will be used during Camp Shriver, which is a free summer camp for Special Olympics athletes, and for the SONJ Unified Sports program in which members of the community join Special Olympics athletes on sports teams.
SONJ, which is headquartered at the SONJ Sports Complex on Princess Road, provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in 24 Olympic-type sports for more than 21,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities throughout the state at the local, county, sectional and state level – free of charge.
