From Track to Mic: Evan’s Journey to Helping Our Team Shine

Evan Yurgaitis is a regular face at Area 27 activities and is becoming more and

more involved with Special Olympics of Virginia. Evan, 23 years old, has been participating in Special Olympics since he was ten years old and has been spreading his wings beyond our local sports. In 2024 he became a Global Messenger and was trained to give

speeches and make appearances to spread the word that Special Olympics can change the lives of athletes AND the coaches, volunteers, families and community.

Last December Evan went to Media training at SOVA headquarters in Richmond. Evan and his fellow Global Messengers were invited to CBS-6 to practice being interviewed by Greg McQuade, longtime anchor of CBS-6, on set and in a podcast studio. As part of the training, Evan also learned the value of social media to expand his reach advocating for people with intellectual disabilities on the field and in our communities. After his training, Evan was interviewed and featured on the SOVA website. Click here to read the article

The latest addition to Evan’s CV is becoming one of the first 12 Fitness Captains in Virginia (and first 450 worldwide). He was nominated by Helene Leigh to lead our track athletes

but he can help any team. Coach Leigh coached Evan all four years of his track career at Liberty High School and felt he could be a good fit based on his prior training. He was trained at the Fitness Collaborative held in January at the Culpeper Fieldhouse. Fitness Captains are a new position that gives athletes the opportunity and structure to be models to other athletes about the benefits of healthy habits like warm-ups, cool-downs, healthy eating, sleep and great sportsmanship. Evan would like to offer his support to the coaches

of other teams to encourage good habits, good sportsmanship and good attitudes.

We are all so proud of Evan! Keep up the great work representing Fauquier!