Six students from Central Etobicoke High School (CEHS) will be competing in the Track and Field category at the first Invitational Youth Games (IYG) to be held in Toronto next May.
The Games will be held over four days and welcome 2,500 athletes ages 13-21, with and without disabilities, from Canada and around the world. These games will coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Special Olympics.
In order to help raise funds for IYG, which is expected to cost $2 million, CEHS hosted the launch of the Draft an Athlete campaign early in February. Approximately 150 student-athletes from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) are expected to participate in the Games.
Trustee Dan MacLean welcomed students and guests which included representatives from the TDSB, Toronto Police Services, Special Olympics Ontario and Women of Influence; all pulling together to support young athletes and make IYG a success.
“I think this is a great opportunity for all of us”, said Joshau Nwachukwu from Grade 12. “Our coaches have been great and everyone at the school has been very supportive.”
“We are looking forward to IYG and we’ll keep working hard to represent CEHS at the Games. It is also exciting that we’ll be competing and getting to know so many young athletes and coaches from around the world”, added Louis Osawaru from Grade 10.
The Invitational Youth Games are hosted by the Toronto Police Services with the support of the Ontario Government and City of Toronto, and include different categories such as athletics, basketball, hockey and soccer.
The six students from CEHS competing are:
Jada Clarke - Grade 11
Julian Fabbri - Grade 12
J’yquan Lawrence-Sappleton - Grade 12
Joshua Nwachukwu - Grade 12
Louis Osawaru - Grade 10
Maitri Patel - Grade 12
To learn more about IYG and Special Olympics, please visit: http://youthgames2019.ca/.
