Athlete With Down Syndrome Debuts Major League Soccer Jersey in New York
Scotty Stephens, a Special Olympian and soccer player with Down syndrome, was tapped by the Colorado Rapids major league soccer team to model its new jersey during a major event in New York ahead of fashion week.
On Wednesday, Major League Soccer (MLS) hosted its Forward25 event to reveal and celebrate each team’s new kit for the upcoming season in celebration of the league’s 25th anniversary. Each team sent a representative to show off its new jersey at the event, including Stephens for the soccer team Colorado Rapids.
ICYMI: We were proud to have the one and only Scotty Stephens represent #Rapids96#FORWARD25 pic.twitter.com/dT2lfKI7t9
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) February 6, 2020
Stephens is a forward for the Colorado Rapids Special Olympics Unified Team, which includes people with and without disabilities, and is an active member of Special Olympics Colorado. According to a Rapids press release, Stephens also plays basketball and football for the Special Olympics.
CSDSA's own Scotty Stephens gets the honor of going to New York City next week to reveal the Colorado Rapids Soccer Club…
Posted by Colorado Springs Down Syndrome Association on Saturday, February 1, 2020
Dubbed “The Nine Six” jersey in honor of the Colorado Rapids’ founding in 1996, Stephens donned the maroon jersey alongside 25 other team models, which included Colin Hanks, Lindsay Ell and DeAndre Hopkins, among others. The Rapids will officially suit up in the new kit at the start of the soccer season on Feb. 29.
SCOTTY! pic.twitter.com/9FYcExeS4x
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 6, 2020
Header image via Major League Soccer’s Twitter
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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