motionBall’s Marathon of Sport returns to Caledon on Saturday supporting Special Olympics

By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On September 12, motionball Caledon will host its 5th annual Marathon of Sport event, a day of friendly competition where teams will compete in a variety of sports to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics. 

The event will take place at the Caledon East Community Complex and will run from 9 a.m. to 3pm as participants compete in a variety of sports and activities including soccer, football, ultimate, bocce, giant pong, and bench ball. 

This year, organizers are hopeful they will be able to reach their fundraising goal of $30,000 through the event. 

The inspiration for this event came from Special Olympic athlete Jason Scorcia, who had attended other Toronto Motionball events and wanted to see similar activities happening in Caledon. 

Co-Event Organizer Lucrezia Chiappetta says she is looking forward to the event and is hoping to see even more growth in the number of participants this year. 

“That's what makes motionball so special – it's that it's not just about building awareness and raising funds, but all events are inclusive so that you're participating alongside Special Olympic athletes. Sometimes you go to events and fundraisers, and those that are being impacted by the funds or the knowledge that you're bringing to the table aren't always necessarily involved, whereas this is the opposite of that,” says Chiappetta. “It is across the country, numerous cities and universities participate or are part of the motionball family, and they run their own events like Marathon of Sport in their cities and on their university campuses.” 

Even though Caledon may not be the biggest Marathon of Sport event across the country, Chiapetta says it is still a strong event with many members of the community participating, and it especially focuses on how important having inclusive events like this are for Caledon.

“For me personally, it's the inclusion piece. I love seeing our community come together with our special Olympics athletes for a day of fun where our Special Olympic athletes are really the stars off the day,” she says. “I know that it means a lot to the parents of the Special Olympic athletes to have this event, to see their children celebrated and included.

“The idea behind motionball is really to create a sustainable funding source because all of this money goes back into Special Olympics, and a huge chunk of it goes to our Provincial chapter and that gets distributed amongst the different chapters across the province, another chunk goes into the Canada Foundation to ensure that there are programs provided to Special Olympic athletes across the country, and then a small portion of it goes to our No Good Way campaign. It really is a way to create that sustainable funding so that Special Olympics can continue to have referees and training spaces and equipment and opportunities to go to larger competitions.” 

The event will have people registered either as standard teams, corporate teams, or as a free agent for those looking to play without a group. 

Each registered participant will receive a motionball hat, t-shirt, opportunity to earn motionball incentives, a ticket to the after party, and much more. 

Sponsors for this year's event include the Ontario Provincial Police, Sportscorp Travel and Charrisma Travel, who will all be competing in the Motion Sport Day. 

Registration for this year is closed, however all those wanting to check out the event and watch the Marathon of Sport Event are welcome to come and cheer the teams on. 

“Whether people sign up as an individual participant with a group of friends, within their business, where maybe they don't enjoy playing sports and they just want to come out and volunteer, we have all different opportunities for people to get involved,” says Chiapetta. “It's one of these things that you really have to experience to understand the magic behind it. Everybody that you talk to that has participated in the event goes away saying, ‘Oh my God, that was the most fun I've ever had,' so really, it's just all about the fun, all about the community. If there's people that want to just come and check it out and see what it's all about, we're happy to have spectators and cheerleaders. So, don't not come because you didn't register or volunteer. Just see what it's all about because you know what? You may really enjoy it and want to come next year.”