Special Olympics Cheerleading

the problem:

My brother Patrick was born with downsyndrome and because of this I would always volunteer with the local Special Olympic's basketball team that he played for. However, when I got there all the girls on the team were so impressed that I was a high-school cheerleader and told me how much they wanted to be on their school's squad but couldn't because of their disabilities. I then decided to start the first ever specail olympics cheerleading squad. I spent months teaching them basic cheers and jumps that they could then perform at half time of the basketball games. We did fundraisers to raise money for the uniforms, but since the girls were all shapes and sizes I ended up making the majority of them!I have to say for doing it myself they turned out much more professional then I thought they would!
Overall the experience has been one of the most memerable enjoyable of my life and I am so glad that I could share my knowledge with girls who enjoy cheering as much as I do.As for the future, my goals are to extend Special Olympics cheerleading to as many teams as possible and hopefully turn it into a special olympic sport that can be enjoyed world wide!

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