In an effort to bring more awareness to Special Olympics Florida, the Orlando Magic's December 21 game against the Utah Jazz was "Special Olympics Tribute Night."

The entire evening, start to finish, was a salute to Special Olympics Florida, including the attendance of 1,500 athletes, volunteers and supporters.

The Pre-Game activities included a performance by the Altamonte Sparklers, a cheerleading and dance squad comprised entirely of Special Olympics Seminole County athletes. Then, forty Special Olympics athletes formed tunnels to greet and high-five the Magic and Jazz players as they took the court for warm-ups.

Next up was the Team Captain's Meeting at center court where Special Olympics Hamilton County athlete Tony Paul joined Lou Bruno, Senior Operations Manager for Special Olympics’ national sponsor  Procter and Gamble, and Special Olympics Florida President, Monty Castevens to meet the team's captains.

The main feature of the evening was center court recognition, both before the game and at half-time, of the Hamilton County Stompers men's basketball team of Jasper. The Stompers are the reigning World Champions in team basketball.

They won the Gold Medal at the Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, China this past October. The Magic also produced and played on the jumbotron a brief video about the Stompers.

Fans were also treated to the debut of Orlando Magic Community Ambassador Nick Anderson's "Be a Fan" public service announcement.

Check out photos!

The Orlando Magic hope to raise awareness amongst Magic fans about Special Olympics by being among the first professional sports organizations in the nation to promote Special Olympics' new "Be a Fan" awareness campaign, encouraging the public to take the first step towards involvement with Special Olympics.  The Magic have even joined slogans with Special Olympics to tell fans "The time is now to be a fan of Special Olympics."
 
Huge thanks to the Orlando Magic and special thanks to the companies who supported  our "Special Olympics Tribute Night":
Procter and Gamble
Diamond Auto Mall
Wright Entertainment Group
The Upper Pinellas ARC
Banyan Realty
Brown Lee Lighting
Publix Super Markets
The Father’s Table
Walt Disney World Company
CyberOperations
Morgan Stanley