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St. Mary's County Special Olympians Will Represent U.S. in Greece in June 
 
The U.S. Special Olympics Men’s Soccer Team is entirely comprised of Special Olympians from St. Mary’s County, Maryland, ages 17-29. They have not lost a game to a Special Olympic opponent in eight years. They are coached by John Toner (a Navy civilian engineer at the base), who has led them for the last nine years; and Kenneth Cohen, St. Mary’s College history professor, who has been with the team since last August. Cohen says it is “a very tight team.”  Cohen has been coaching Special Olympians since he was in graduate school in Delaware. He played himself as an Academic All-American at Allegheny College, played for Oxford University in England, and then bounced around a few semi-pro teams in America. College coaches have contributed balls, shin guards and shoes for the players
Furthermore: Lorraine Glidden, distinguished professor of psychology and human development at St. Mary’s has been appointed a Special Olympics Scholar and will travel to Greece for the Games to present research findings that shows participating in the Special Olympics benefits both the athletes and their parents. The research was published in the February 2011 issue of the journal Intellectual and Development Disabilities.

The team was chosen to represent the U.S. in soccer at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece June 25-July 4, 2011.