Special Olympics Team Canada soccer players are coming home with a bronze medal from the 2019 World Games in Abu Dhabi.
The team started strong with a 4-1 victory over Sweden, but were defeated in two close matches – losing one of those games 1-0 with a penalty kick.
The team rallied on Tuesday and dominated Sweden again with a 2-0 win, earning bronze.
Some members of the Brampton-based team have been playing together for more than 20-years – head coach Neil Lewis, his wife and associate coach Carole and their daughter Robyn included.
This year marked the team’s first competition on the world stage. Their success is attributed to the fact they’re more than a team – they’re a family.
All 12 players – and their families – spend time together on and off the field. In fact, the soccer team alone had 11 family members travel to Abu Dhabi to cheer them on from the stands.
“There’s no clicks, nobody goes off – they are always together, all 12 of them,” Carole said. “They gel really well no matter what.”
“And the parents are just as supportive as we are – they’re into it – and the whole team, they’re not just cheering on their own kids.”
In 20-plus years of coaching, Carole has never encountered a team so close-knit.
“It’s a team, in the true sense of the word – in every sense of the word,” she said.
Their bond and love for sport also helps them off the field – something Carole has witnessed firsthand with her daughter.
“Robyn doesn’t talk, but it doesn’t matter,” she said. “She never spoke, she never did anything until all of this. Now she has a group of friends, she goes out.”
The team collects their medals Wednesday and the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 close on Thursday.