HUNTINGTON BEACH A large contingent of black- and red-clad students and administrators from Westminster High stood up with a roar befitting their Lions mascot when they heard their Lion Mamba soccer team had claimed the top prize in the inaugural “Soccer by the Sand” Special Olympics Unified Sports Tournament.
The Westminster team, comprised of Special Olympics athletes and their general education classmates, called partners, defeated Fountain Valley High in a shoot-out to claim the top prize in the five-on-five soccer tournament Thursday at Edison High School in Huntington Beach.
The event, which featured teams from Westminster, Fountain Valley and Edison high schools, was created to foster social inclusion between students with intellectual disabilities and their general student body classmates through sports.