The Springfield Demize continued their Community Outreach program by teaming up with the Special Olympics to create a truly unique atmosphere for the athletes.  The Springfield Demize team were out at 8:30 am to cheer on the teams, with the team splitting in half and claiming allegiance to different teams throughout the day.  Before the games the Demize players would help coach the athletes, then turn into coaches and encouraging fans during the game, lined up in large numbers on the sidelines.  At the end of the day, everyone was a winner and the Demize players helped hand out awards and medals to the valiant athletes.

Special Olympics of Missouri Mission Statement:

Our Mission is...

to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with mental disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

The Springfield Demize PDL team is reaching out to the Springfield Area YMCA youth sports programs, in an effort to build a strong community partnership, helping youth soccer grow in Southwest Missouri. Demize players spent four hours, in the soccer basin at the Pat Boone YMCA, picking up rocks and filling in holes with dirt, making the fields safer. The fields recently underwent renovations and the recovery time has been slower than expected. The highlight of the event was when the players began to dig up a rock from one of the fields, only to find it was a boulder. Determined to, “Never give up” as Demize player Michael Gow stated, the players remained longer than planned to finish the job right.  Keeping this theme in mind the players agreed to come back next Wednesday to complete the portions of the field they were unable to attend to. 

President for the Springfield Demize, Eric Cantu said, “We want to be a very community oriented organization and I hope this is the start of a long lasting partnership with the YMCA and the tip of the iceberg of our community involvement.” The Springfield Demize will also sponsor the YMCA’s soccer camps this summer by providing high quality soccer coaches. The camps are scheduled for June 15 -17 and July 27-29 The Demize are also in the process of developing a year-long volunteering program with the YMCA to help other youth programs. YMCA Sports Director Jen Griest said, “There are several times throughout the year when we need volunteers to prepare for upcoming seasons and having consistent volunteers would really help.”

The Springfield Demize are currently preparing for their upcoming season, which kicks off on Wednesday, May 13 at Lake Country Soccer Complex, against the Des Moines Menace. For more information about the Springfield Demize, visit their website at www.DemizeSoccer.com.