Photo By Staff Sgt. Julio Olivencia Jr | The 105th Airlift Wing hosted the floor hockey event during the 2016 Winter Games for...... read more read more
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The 105th Airlift Wing is scheduled to host the floor hockey event of the 2017 Special Olympics of New York winter games here for the second year in a row Feb. 18, 2017.
Floor hockey at Stewart kicks off at 10:30 a.m. in Hangar 100. Airmen are encouraged to attend to cheer on the athletes and Airmen who volunteer are free to arrive when they can and stay for as long as their schedule allows.
Stacy L. Eder, director of volunteer management for the games, said Airmen from the 105th have been essential for the games success in the Hudson Valley.
“What we’re getting out of the base and the support, from the very top to the people who are working the event the day of, is not something we run across every day,” Eder said.
Eder said one of the most challenging parts of the planning process, which begins a year before the games, is finding the almost 44,000 square feet of unobstructed space to hold the floor hockey tournament.
Stewart, the only New York Air National Guard base to host an event for the winter games, is one of a handful places that can accommodate the floor hockey event statewide, Eder said.
Eder said the space wasn’t the only thing that makes the partnership with the base exciting and unique.
Stewart also supplies a large number of Airmen-volunteers to help with logistics and, perhaps more importantly, cheer on the approximately 350 athletes.
Tech. Sgt. Luis Sandoval and Tech. Sgt. James Meola were among the Airmen who volunteered last year.
Meola said it was a great experience from the moment the athletes arrived.
“It’s amazing what we mean to them and how you start to feel like you’re part of their team,” Meola said.
Sandoval echoed the feeling of being much more than a volunteer or spectator.
He was asked by a team from Syracuse to help warm up the athletes before their match last year and a few weeks ago he received a Facebook message from the coach asking if he could help again this year.
“So, that felt really good that they reached out, personally, to me almost a year later,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval will be volunteering again this year and said he recommends others do as well. In fact, he has encouraged all the younger Airmen in his shop to take advantage of the opportunity he said he missed out on earlier in his career.
“When I was younger I didn’t realize the role we play in the community, not just in Orange County, but New York state and how they look to us and how much they support us,” Sandoval said. “It’s the little things we can do to give back, even if it’s just cheering.”
Airman seeking more information on volunteering can contact Master Sgt. Sara Pastorello at (845) 563-2075 or Tech. Sgt. Cynthia DuBois at (845) 563-2286.
All others can visit specialolympics-ny.org/winter-games/
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2017 14:06 |
| Story ID: | 223524 |
| Location: | NEWBURGH, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 477 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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