The first Radio Lollipop Olympics took place this year and lasted longer than anyone expected. It started with the Radio Lollipop Olympics Bash on May 30th. The party was a great success. It allowed volunteers to meet each other and spend some quality time together. It was followed by the Radio Lollipop Olympic games, which took place on May 31st at Tropical Park.
The games consisted of four teams: The Incredibles from Terrific Tuesday, Weapons of Mass Destruction from Wacky Wednesday, Boom Boom Pow from Thrilling Thursday and The Icantbelieveables from Super Saturday. The events scheduled were Flag Football, Dodgeball, and Kickball. After playing flag football for four hours, the games were sadly interrupted by rain. .
Thanks to the weather, volunteers were able to meet again on July 19 to finish the Olympic games. Dodgeball and Kickball were the two events of the day. The award ceremony followed the games. The Icanbelievables from Super Saturday took home the trophy. Its not about competition. Its about becoming a team, which hopefully will later become a family, said Lucia Schneegans-Puentes, a Super Saturday volunteer.
Each team had a Most Valuable Player who won a beautiful medal. Kathy Napuri, Natalie Eguizabal, Andrew Geffner, and David Berry were the MVPs. Andrew Geffner not only won Most Valuable Player on his team, but also won Most Valuable Player overall.
The Radio Lollipop Olympic games allowed a large group of great individuals to interact. Even though volunteers were competing against each other, they became closer than ever. “I really enjoyed the first ever Radio Lollipop Olympics because we got to interact with members from the rest of the teams and have fun in the process”, said Melissa Ruiz-Lau, a Thrilling Thursday volunteer.
Tuesdays team did not have enough team members, so they combined with players from Wednesdays team. They called themselves the Terrific Wednesdays. Labake Ajayi, a Terrific Tuesday member said, “Although we were divided within our respective teams, we united as a whole in competing against each other from different teams, sharing memorable experiences and always laughing.
She added, Maybe there was only one official team winner, but all the teams gained friends, ate great food and spent quality time as a group. In the end we all became winners.
This wonderful event is sure to come back next year, providing a great venue for volunteers from all teams to practice good teamwork and sportsmanship in hopes of bringing everyone just a little bit closer in the process.