Clare Teal: A proud moment as Yorkshire team make an entrance

For me the most exciting and uplifting part of the whole evening was the welcoming of the teams by the 7,000 strong crowd – 1,534 athletes from all over England, Scotland and Wales, who along with their 627 coaches and 500 volunteers make up 17 delegations, competing in 12 sports. We clapped, whooped and cheered all the delegations but I must confess when the 149 athletes and 57 coaches of the Yorkshire & Humberside team entered the arena I felt an immense sense of pride and I fear my whoops became exuberantly loud.

The tag line of these games is “1 Big Smile” – which sums up beautifully the whole atmosphere surrounding this fantastically positive event.

A notion that would become The Special Olympics began in the 1950s as a backyard summer camp for people with intellectual disabilities set up by JFK’s sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was angered by how unjustly and unfairly these people were treated in society. Fast-forward to today, the Special Olympics is now a global organisation transforming lives through sport.

Around 4.2 million athletes with intellectual disabilities in 170 countries now have access to the training and support they require to reach their goals and feel a great sense of personal achievement but also the unity of being part of a team.

I got to meet Edward Black, a young athlete competing in the five-a-side football event for Yorkshire & Humberside, we chatted about how brilliant the atmosphere was. He told me how much he was looking forward to the games. Mark Summers, head coach, gave me a brief insight into the great things being achieved at Harrogate Gateway Football Club.

We all should have the right to be the best we can be, to make a difference in our individual communities, counties and countries. On that note I’ll jump off my soapbox and give one more congratulatory whoop to everyone involved in the National Summer Games.