Pittsburgh to host Special Olympics softball championships
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — This fall, Pennsylvania will host a Special Olympics North America Championship for the very first time, and it will take place right here in Pittsburgh, bringing thousands to the region.
Key stakeholders made the announcement Wednesday at PNC Park.
Kyle Lewis loves being out on the softball field and playing first base.
"It feels pretty good to get somebody out at first," Lewis said.
He's a Special Olympics athlete from Gibsonia and last year came in third place in his division at the North America championship. He expects to make it again, and if so, he'll get to stay here at home.
"It's pretty great to have it all out this way," Lewis said. "I don't have to travel that far. It's only 20 minutes from my house."
This is because this year the championship is coming to the Steel City, specifically No Offseason Sports Park in Tarentum from Sept. 6-8.
Andrew Fee is the executive director of the Three Rivers region.
"We worked with the city, SportsPittsburgh, VisitPittsburgh, Sports and Exhibition Authority. We're all supportive of bringing the event," Fee said.
They also worked with Special Olympics North America, including Craig Pippert, the director of sports development.
"Great staff support, great programs support, a long history of the city supporting Special Olympics here in general, and then the rich history of the city of Pittsburgh and sports made it a no-brainer, easy decision for us," Pippert said.
Between 20 to 30 teams will compete from all over.
"In the past, we've had teams travel from as far away as Manitoba," Pippert said.
For Lewis, it's about making Pittsburgh proud. He's just counting down the days.
"Hopefully we can do better this time around to get possibly a gold medal," Lewis said.
