I was one of four athletes from Northampton County that went to the NovaCare Complex on September 4th. This is the indoor practice area for the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles! We got to run through drills like the Eagles do. I had to step over hurdles, run around barriers, and crash through the tackling pads while running with a football. Four players from the Philadelphia Eagles team were there and cheered us on and tried to stop us as we ran through the drills. We also got to see a flag football game between two counties from the area. Swoop, the Eagles mascot, was there to cheer us on as we ran through drills on the same field that the Eagles practice on. But the best part of the night was getting to see three of the Eagles Cheerleaders, and I even got a picture with them! We got an Eagles Pennant,drawstring bag, water bottle, and a boxed meal before we left for home. But, I was really hungry after our long drive and running though all of those drills that we stopped to eat at a restaurant on the way home with Miss Amanda! Fly Eagles Fly!!! 
-Tyler Youngkin
Global Messenger

​This year four staff members, Matthew Krauss, Janelle Pemberton, Pamela Younkin and Amanda Sechrist, along with athlete representative Tyler Youngkin attended the 2018 Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Leadership Conference Saturday, August 25th - Sunday, August 26th at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College. The conference offered Q&A meetings, Athlete Congress, Competition paperwork, Vsys updates, information on both volunteer and athlete recruitment, and of course networking and socializing with other programs. The staff attended the Leadership University Graduation Ceremony and Leadership Awards during a banquet. All staff had a relaxing time and worked to bring fresh and exciting ideas back to our local program.

​Northampton County Special Olympics attended the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania Summer
Games at Penn State University on May 31-June 2, 2018. The program took 49 athletes to
Athletics, 5 athletes to Swimming and 3 athletes to Equestrian. NCSO had 24 volunteers attend
the event including Athletics Head Coach Kory Kutzler, Swimming Head Coach Luann Shive and
Equestrian Head Coach Linda Lechner. The athletes participated in a parade of athletes to the
opening ceremonies that included lots of cheering and music. There was a special presentation
of the torch lighting by the local police on motorcycles. The athletes also attended a dance on
Friday night. The events wrapped up around 3:00 pm on Saturday and our very competitive
and exhausted athletes headed home to see their families

​On June 25, 2018 Northampton County Special Olympics in partnership with the Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 held it’s 23rd Annual Golf Tournament at Glen Brook Golf Club in Stroudsburg, PA. Twenty Teams tee’d off at 8:00 a.m. to raise money for Northampton County Special Olympic Athletes. At the conclusion of the tournament a luncheon and awards ceremony took place, as well as a tricky tray raffle, prizes were donated by volunteers and local businesses. The money raised at this event helps with the cost of Summer State Games held at Penn State University.

Northampton County Special Olympic Equestrian Team 6th Annual Horse Show was held on Tuesday, May 22nd at the Equi-librium Therapeutic Horsemanship facility in Nazareth. The smiling faces of our riders completely overshadowed the dreary and rainy day. Lori Tucker and Sam Hartzell judged as our 10 riders competed in Equitation, Trail, Dressage and Barrel Races. The riders and horses performed at their very best, showing off improved skills and increased independence. We were well represented by riders Caroline, Lauren and Sara at the PA State Summer Games at Penn State University on May 31st
-June 2nd. We are so proud of you all!!

​10 ​equestrians
 6 ​horses
 7 ​NCSO members/coaches
 9 ​Equi-librium staff/volunteers
 2 ​judges
 2 ​photographers
 + 1 ​supportive crowd
 ___________________________
 1 Terrific Horse Show!

NCSO is now on Instagram. Be sure to check us out at "Northampton Special Olympics". We will be adding pictures of various events and fundraisers throughout the year. We encourage you to use #ncso when posting pictures of events and tag us!