Special Olympics Illinois and Chicago Fire FC hosted a signing day for the Chicago Fire Unified All Stars team. Team members were received by Chicago Fire FC midfielder and Special Olympics Illinois ambassador Chris Mueller before signing their contracts and receiving their uniforms. This program is part of the Special Olympics Unified Sports movement.
The Unified team will practice and compete at the Fire’s facilities and also travel to select away matches throughout the season, including Nashville and Los Angeles.
The Special Olympics movement is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.
In Unified Sports, teams are made up of people of similar age and ability. That makes practices more fun and games more challenging and exciting for all. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away.
About Chicago Fire FC
The Chicago Fire Football Club was founded on October 8, 1997, on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. The Fire have won six major domestic championship titles, including the 1998 MLS Cup, the 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups, as well as the 2003 MLS Supporters’ Shield. The Club's charitable arm, the Chicago Fire Foundation, was recognized as ESPN’s 2019 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. The Fire plays their home matches at historic Soldier Field. For more information, visit chicagofirefc.com.
About Special Olympics Illinois
Special Olympics Illinois is a not-for-profit sports organization offering year-round training and competition in 18 sports to a community of more than 55,000 traditional athletes, Young Athletes, Unified partners, coaches, volunteers, and more. It strives to be a global leader in shaping a culture where people with and without intellectual disabilities are fully integrated into the community by providing year-round opportunities in competitive sports, health education, leadership and personal development.
