NAU football partners with Special Olympics Arizona for ‘2024 Victory Day’
Day included football drills, high-fives and raucous touchdown celebrations
The Northern Arizona football team hosted a large group of children with special needs and their families and caregivers to the Walkup Skydome on Friday to participate in a morning celebration of football in the community.
The new coaching staff and large swaths of Lumberjacks players partnered with Special Olympics Arizona to welcome dozens of kids for what they dubbed “2024 Victory Day.â€
Everyone involved took part in drills, spoke with the players during a day off of spring practice, and — perhaps most importantly — scored and took part in raucous touchdown celebrations.
The tradition started for Lumberjacks coach Brian Wright when he was an assistant with the Toledo Rockets. They’d been doing it for years when he got to campus. He then took the event over to Pittsburg State, where he was the head coach, and this spring he brought it to Flagstaff.
“I think anything we can do to get to know the community better, we want to do. This is just a great opportunity for our players to make some memorable connections and some lifelong relationships with young people who don’t get the opportunity to play football like we do,†Wright said.
Among the most valuable experiences have been the “hugs and high-fives†between the players and young kids.
“Watching the participants celebrate scoring a touchdown with the players has been so much fun to watch,†Wright said. “And we’ve seen where our players make friendships and more that last for a long time, and these kids and their families come to games and celebrate a lot of the big wins. That’s one of the most rewarding parts of it.â€