Whitefish Bay High School Girl’s basketball hosted their first basketball clinic for our NSSO athletes on Saturday, December 10th. Great fun for those in attendance. Hopefully this will become an annual event.
Author: csigurdson
Johnathan has been involved with NSSO since 2010.
Favorite Special Olympics Sport is basketball.
His favorite food is fish.
Favorite Movie is Mrs. Doubtfire.
What do you like to do in your free time? Collecting Fire Fighting/Law Enforcement Patches, Watching my Wisconsin pro/college teams on television, being with my Wife Rachel and our family and great friends
Resides in Glendale.
North Suburban is so pleased with our partnership with the MSCDA. This provides NSSO and our athletes with so many positive relationships with our many MSCDA student volunteers. Check out the new page MSCDA and a feature about Matt Kettering.
Your name and role: Matt Kettering, Community Service Coordinator for the Marquette Special Care Dentistry Association
What year in your program are you: I am in my third year at Marquette University School of Dentistry.
Why volunteering with Special Olympics, why North Suburban? I am the oldest of triplets, and my youngest brother Charlie has been competing in Special Olympics in Chicago since we were little. I’ve always loved going to the events and cheering on Charlie and his friends as they compete for gold, so I jumped at the opportunity to help coach athletes during my time in undergrad at Marquette. As President of the Supporting Special Olympics club, I coordinated volunteer opportunities and coached with Team MKE, along with the MPS Adaptive Athletics program.
When I began dental school, the existing volunteer relationship was with North Suburban, which I thought was great in providing all Marquette students with ample opportunity to get involved across the city and suburbs. It has been awesome getting to know the North Suburban athletes while continuing to see athletes from Team Milwaukee at events during the year.
My classmates and I are so grateful for the partnership between our SCDA club and North Suburban Special Olympics – practices are something we all look forward to during the week and we value the connections we’ve been able to build with athletes!
I admire how each athlete always come to practices and competitions ready to work hard, demonstrate sportsmanship, and have some fun.
What sports do you volunteer in? I’ve helped coach volleyball, soccer, bowling, and basketball.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love to play volleyball and pickleball, golf, and run during my free time. I also enjoy reading and jigsaw puzzles.
Any memorable moment event while volunteering? Watching athletes develop their skills and improve throughout the season is my favorite part of volunteering. I worked with an athlete who consistently spun the bowling ball to the left and into the gutter before it could reach the end of the lane. He adjusted his starting position and worked on wrist rotation each practice and eventually was able to knock down a few pins consistently. A volleyball player transitioned from a short server to a long server just before the state competition. Two soccer teams combined and had to work on teamwork and communication. Every season, every team, every athlete is memorable in their own unique way, and that’s what I love about volunteering with Special Olympics!