PARKER, Colo. — The flag football team of Special Olympics Colorado departed from Denver Saturday morning with new jerseys in tow thanks to a Douglas County high school.
President and CEO Megan Scremin says someone broke into a staff member's car Thursday near East 6th Avenue and Chambers Road in Aurora and stole the team's jerseys, ahead of its attendance at the 2022 USA Games in Orlando on Monday.
"Competing at such a large scale has a lot of stress and anxiety to it, so when your uniforms are stolen, you know, it's sad," Scremin said.
Once word got to Jaron Cohen, head football coach at Ponderosa High School in Parker, about what happened, he got work.
"It kind of makes you a little sick to your stomach that people would do that in general. And when you find out the cause it was for, it kind of accelerates that a little bit," he said.
Thankfully, he had some spare freshman jerseys — similar in color to Team Colorado — and was more than willing to loan them.
"I was just happy we could help. It's a pretty great cause, and those athletes deserve to play and compete and look good doing it," Cohen said.
Scremin and her staff were able to add on the team's logo and players' names just in the nick of time.
"They've been practicing hard. They've earned this chance to be there," she said. "We want them to look and feel professional. They're there to represent their state."
Why someone would steal the team's jerseys is something both Scremin and Cohen want to know. Whatever the reason, Cohen has a message for whoever is responsible.
"We're always looking for live tackling dummies," he said. "You come to Ponderosa High School anytime you want in the fall and we got about 110 kids at once that, once we share this story, would love to use you as a tackling dummy."
Opening ceremonies at the USA Games are on Sunday. The first flag football games are on Monday.
