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Villanova University is the official host of the Special Olympics Pennsylvania state games in the fall. The Fall Festival at Villanova will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on Nov. 7-9, 2008. The Special Olympics Fall Festival at Villanova is currently the largest student-run Special Olympics event in the world as for one weekend, Villanova University opens its campus up to over 1,000 athletes, 400 coaches, 2,700 volunteers and the many corporate sponsors and media outlets that provide coverage for the event. The athletes who participate in the Fall Festival compete in six Olympic-type sports, bocce, long distance running, power-lifting, roller skating, soccer and volleyball. There is no charge to participate in the Fall Festival or in any other Special Olympics event, and all housing and meals for the weekend are provided by Special Olympics Pennsylvania and Villanova University.

About the Festival Director

The festival director for the 2008 Fall Festival is Alessandro Roco, a rising senior chemical engineering major, business minor from Sayreville, New Jersey. In addition to being this year's Festival Director, he is also a member of the New Student Orientation Program, Blue Key Society, Liturgical Ministry and Sigma Chi fraternity, and has also done mission work in Peru and Philadelphia.

General questions regarding the 2008 Fall Festival can be addressed to: info@villanovaspo.com or by calling the Special Olympics office 610.519.7244

Special Olympics is a life-changing movement of people helping people. The athletes of Special Olympics -- more than 18,000 alone in Pennsylvania -- are constant reminders of all that is right with the human spirit.

The Special Olympics Movement

Special Olympics is an international organization dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training and competition in 26 Olympic-type summer and winter sports.

There is no charge to participate in Special Olympics. Special Olympics currently serves more than 2.5 million persons with intellectual disabilities in more than 200 programs in more than 180 countries. Children and adults with intellectual disabilities who participate in Special Olympics develop improved physical fitness and motor skills, greater self-confidence and a more positive self-image. They grow mentally, socially and spiritually and, through their activities, exhibit boundless courage and enthusiasm, enjoy the rewards of friendship and ultimately discover not only new abilities and talents but "their voices" as well.

Special Olympics may have best been described by Sargent Shriver, Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics Inc., when he wrote that Special Olympics is unique and important because of the ways in which Special Olympics inspires and reveals the very best in human nature. "It has become," he wrote, "one of the most encouraging and profound developments in modern sports."

The goal of this movement is twofold:

1. To bring intellectual disabilities out of the darkness and into the light of public acceptance and understanding
2. To give all persons with an intellectual disability the opportunity to become useful and productive citizens who are accepted and respected in their communities.

The spirit of Special Olympics -- skill, courage, sharing, and joy -- incorporates universal values that transcend all boundaries of geography, nationality, political philosophy, gender, age, race, or religion.