Be The Best Sport Visits St. Mary’s Hospital for Children

St. Mary’s Kids Build Social and Athletic Skills All Part of Rehabilitation

In an effort to encourage sports and exercise and promote rehabilitation for children with special needs at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children, Be The Best Sport offered their soccer program to patients of all ages.

The program consisted of soccer related activities and was adapted to give children with disabilities the opportunity to play sports while building social and athletic skills. Professional coaches and volunteers worked one on one with St. Mary’s Kids who battle complex medical and life-limiting conditions due to serious illness, injury and complications of premature birth, teaching them warm-up exercises, drills such as shooting, dribbling and ball control.

“Our mission is to provide a fun, yet challenging environment in which children will develop both individual soccer skills and the important values of teamwork and social interaction,” said Michael Furino, Director of Be The Best Sport.

St. Mary’s Kids receive intensive rehabilitation and specialized medical care at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children each and every day and this program is just another way to encourage rehabilitation and help them heal and grow in a non-competitive environment. St. Mary’s Kids also enjoyed interacting with volunteers and building new friendships.