New Hope Knights Compete in the Buffalo Bowl
O n June 7th, the New second year in a row – this time bringing two teams! Hosted at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York, the Special Olympics New York's Buffalo Bowl is a 6-on-6 flag football tournament benefiting Special Olympics New York. The event features various leagues, including Pro, Intermediate, Hope Knights returned to the Buffalo Bowl for the Amateur, First Responders, Co-Ed, Middle School, and High School.
Special Olympics athletes). Black won the coin toss and elected to go on offense first. On second down, Rob threw a pass to Vinny, who went all the WAY! Touchdown! The Yellow team took that momentum as motivation, and Neil passed to Joe on second and third down, resulting in a TOUCHDOWN! Afterwards, the teams settled into a rhythm, making defensive stops on both sides, with Neil locking down the sideline for Yellow, and Wanda G on Black, tearing flags left and right. The nail-biter continued when Jeffery snagged a pass from Victor and stumbled to the three-yard line, putting Yellow in the red zone! A short pass to Jeremy gave them another touchdown and the LEAD! The battle continued with big throws from Scott to Chris, and
The tournament serves as a fundraising event, with teams raising money to participate. This year, each team was required to raise $1,750 to participate in the event. The two New Hope Knights teams raised an impressive $3,500! The Recreation Department worked diligently to facilitate multiple fundraising opportunities, including but not limited to a football pool, a Knights t-shirt sale, a bake sale, and a shamrock sale. The Knights also utilized social media, posted updates online, and distributed flyers featuring QR codes for easy, direct donations. The Buffalo Bowl event raised over $275,000 this year! That amount is enough to sponsor 550 Special Olympic athletes for an entire year! While eagerly waiting their turn to run onto the field through the tunnel on June 7th, the New Hope Knights had the exciting opportunity to tour the locker rooms at Bills Stadium. This unforgettable experience allowed the athletes to see the professional lockers of professional players such as Josh Allen and James Cook. They also had access to use the media room where the Buffalo Bills conduct their interviews! After the opening ceremonies, the Knights took to the field! Playing in three games overall – the final matchup was an exciting face-off game against EACH OTHER! In the final game, the Knights in black shirts - Rob, Noah, Vinny, Buck, Tina, and Wanda took the field against the Knights in yellow shirts - Neil, Jeffery, Jeremy, Jason, Joe, and Nicole. (All
Victor to Nick. Jeremy perfected the hook route and continued to move the ball downfield. Paige was hit on a beautiful crossing route and traveled just over 30 yards for a touchdown! It was almost impossible to keep up with the action. With just one second left on the clock, the Yellow team was leading 18-12. Then, Vinny made a catch and ran to the endzone, tying the game 18-18. The Black team goes for the extra point, and again it's VINNY! In the back corner of the endzone! As the final whistle blew, the scoreboard read 19-18 in favor of the Black team. However, the football journey began long before June 7th. For several months, the athletes gathered weekly for practices, team meetings, and one-on-one training sessions. Every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm, the mixed teams of Special Olympics Athletes, Coaches, Partner Athletes, DSPs, and
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