Written By: Ali Phaneuf
On Monday, August 8th, one Special Olympics MA athlete and Unified partner from the New England Revolution Unified Team will fly to Minnesota to compete in the Special Olympics Unified All-Star Game, presented by MLS WORKS, ESPN and Coca-Cola.
Who are the two players that will be representing Special Olympics Massachusetts? Returning NE Revs Unified Team athlete, Radley Theolien, and first-time NE Revs Unified partner, Ian Miller. We met up with the two all-stars, so you can get to know them a little better.
Meet Radley
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Dorchester
- Position: Forward
Radley is a student at MassBay Community College, majoring in Communication. He is excited for the future, with the hopes of being a sports broadcaster or journalist where he can be a play-play-play commentator and sports analyst. Radley is well on his way to achieving this goal, as he currently runs his own podcast that he began in 2019 entitled, ''Rad Sports Talkshow." On the podcast Radley talks about everything going on in the soccer, basketball, baseball, football, and hockey worlds.
Radley is a huge New England Revolution fan; and his favorite all-time player is Taylor Twellman. With this being Radley's first MLS All-Star game, he is excited to see the players from both the East and West coasts. While he watches the game every year on TV, this experience will be completely different for Radley.
''I just want to get the experience of how the all-star game works. I'm excited to see how I do against the rest of the competition; but mostly I'm excited to enjoy myself and have fun."
Meet Ian
- Age: 17
- Hometown: Attleboro
- Position: Center Back
Ian is approaching his senior year at Attleboro High School, but is eagerly looking at colleges and universities for next year, where he hopes to pursue a degree in Marine Biology. While this is Ian's first year playing as a Unified Partner for the New England Revolution Unified Team, he has been involved with Special Olympics MA previously through the Heller's Angels local program.
Similarly to teammate Radley, Ian is a big New England Revolution fan, and he cannot say enough good things about his favorite player, and fellow defender, Andrew Farrell. Ian is excited to represent the New England Revolution and Special Olympics MA at the Unified All-Star Game in just a few weeks.
''Soccer is my main sport, I love everything about soccer. Being able to do this with Special Olympics is just an added bonus that makes the experience better."
The game will take place on Wednesday, August 10th at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota at 4:30 pm and will be streamed on ESPN3. The West and East Unified All-Star teams will also be recognized on-field during the MLS All-Game, presented by Target, taking place at Allianz Field at 8:30 pm ET.