#50for50: Volume 6
▪️ Tommy Perrotti
▪️ 21 years old
▪️ Lehigh County
“I’ll never forget this. I was doing security last year and my coach called me and said, ‘We’re ready to go.’ So I went to the bathroom and changed from khakis to shin guards in a matter of five minutes. That’s something I’ll never forget. … I’m a senior Sport Management major here at DeSales. It’s my second year doing Special Olympics here at the University. Last year, I was on the Transportation & Security committee and Lehigh’s Unified soccer coach and his son were on it as well. He asked if anyone had played soccer before and I said I played for about 15 years or so. … So I started practicing. I fell in love with the team right away as soon as I got to meet them. Playing for so long and not being able to play in college, it meant a lot to me to be able to help the team out. It meant a lot to be able to be on a team again. I’ve gone to Hershey with the team, I’ve gone to Villanova. Special Olympics has meant a lot to me. … It’s definitely a great opportunity, especially if you enjoy sports and if you want to get involved in a different way rather than just doing paperwork or spreadsheets or something like that. It’s more meaningful. You’re sitting with the team. You’re on the bus rides. You’re getting to learn more about your teammates’ lives and why they’re here and why they wanted to play. And why they want to go out every day and do their best. As a Unified partner, I was able to have a lot of opportunities in life, but the athletes, they had to fight for them.”
