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SpO soccer committee member Maggie Harris hugs RG3 during a soccer game in last year\u2019s Fall Festival.<\/p>\nFor the past seven years, the managers of the Villanova women\u2019s basketball team have been led by head manager Rachel Grace, who is better known by her nickname, RG3.\u00a0<\/p>\n
RG3, who has Down Syndrome, is a Special Olympics athlete in addition to her head manager duties, and has had a lifelong love of athletics. She grew up playing basketball, starting at the age of five, and later found soccer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen her play basketball and soccer,\u201d Maggie Harris, friend of RG3 and Special Olympics soccer committee member, said. \u201cShe\u2019s amazing at both of them. She\u2019s famous for her threes in basketball\u2026\u00a0 she\u2019s amazing at everything she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
RG3, from what she can recall, has participated in Special Olympics since she was a young teenager and hasn\u2019t missed a single year of Villanova\u2019s Fall Festival since she started.<\/p>\n
These days, RG3 plays soccer for the Montgomery County Knights, a local recreational soccer club. While she often moves around the field, she typically plays at striker, scoring goals and assisting teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a striker, so I usually have a good shot of getting some goals,\u201d RG3 said.<\/p>\n
RG3 has an infectious energy and love for the people around her. She appreciates the little things in life. Harris has been honored to experience RG3\u2019s bigger-than-life personality throughout her time at Villanova.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce, after she won a game, she came up to me and hugged me, and it was just awesome. I feel like she really shows her appreciation for people through hugs,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI saw her in [Dougherty Dining Hall] and she literally gave me six hugs\u2026 when she feels for you, she\u2019ll let you know, which is awesome and very heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n
RG3 loves every part of Fall Fest weekend: the games, the energy and the connections she gets to make with other athletes and volunteers. She especially enjoys making new friends each year and sharing her love of athletics with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I love about Special Olympics is that you get to meet new people and create friendships,\u201d RG3 said. \u201cIt\u2019s like the whole point of being there. To share the love of the sport, but also make friends doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
RG3 is known as the hype person at Villanova. She cheers everyone on, whether it\u2019s her players, fellow managers, or teammates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone makes a shot, she always hypes them up. She\u2019ll high-five them and cheer them on, even during practice. She\u2019s just a source of energy,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWhenever you see her, it\u2019s gonna put a smile on your face. She\u2019s always very energetic. If I were having a bad day, I would see RG3, and it would be a good day. Her energy is very contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n
SpO soccer committee member Maggie Harris hugs RG3 during a soccer game in last year\u2019s Fall Festival.<\/p>\n
Beyond her love of the game, RG3 also emphasizes the importance of the message of inclusion that Fall Fest celebrates each year. RG3 enjoys Fall Fest because it serves as a platform for her and others to emphasize the value of inclusion and accessibility in sports. For RG3, Special Olympics is a space where she can play the sports she loves and always feel included.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Special Olympics, for me, I\u2019d have to say that we don\u2019t have to be excluded now from playing sports,\u201d RG3 said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to feel excluded because you get a shot of playing in Special Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is what the Special Olympics committee strives for and values. RG3\u2019s message can be seen across the entirety of Fall Fest sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many athletes come to Fall Fest and the vibes are just embracing everyone\u2019s abilities instead of looking at their disabilities first,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThey worked so hard to get here\u2026 It\u2019s just acknowledging the hard work that they put in, not just looking at their disability, but embracing them for their character.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout her entire life, RG3 has felt the unyielding support of her parents, who have encouraged her to be a role model for other people with Down Syndrome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat my parents always told me is that I\u2019m a good role model for people with Down Syndrome,\u201d RG3 said. \u201cBeing a role model is like putting your foot forward\u2026and just supporting everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Fall Fest weekend is fast approaching, RG3 has a message for her fellow athletes:<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve in yourself, show who you are, always follow your dreams, and keep living it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past seven years, the managers of the Villanova women\u2019s basketball team have been led by head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-264358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}