World Games 2015: Doha GOALS Helps Give Back To Los Angeles

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LA Sports Hub teamed up with Doha GOALS to give two lucky LA residents the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2015 World Games — the reactions are worth their weight in gold.


With the Special Olympics World Games taking their talents to Los Angeles in 2015, the opportunity more than presented itself to give some of the best surprises to the most unsuspecting people.

Thanks to people at DOHA Goals, LA Sports Hub was able to give away two tickets to the Opening Ceremony of the World Games hosted at USC’s historic Coliseum — and both wouldn’t have had the opportunity otherwise.

Our first winner was a woman named Natasha Ann who the team spotted after grabbing some lunch before the ceremony began.

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She was by herself under the shade as we asked here about what she thought about the games and the whole nine yards.

LASH: What do you think about the World Games coming to Los Angeles?

NA: I think it’s great for the city and it’s awesome to see everyone out here.

LASH: Do you plan on attending the Opening Ceremony?

She replied to that question telling us that she was not able to attend because she had no tickets — at that time we informed her she’d be going to the event with one of the tickets from DOHA Goals.

As you can imagine, she was speechless.

Tears of joy were shed as she sat there in complete disbelief and it was great to know that we were able to partner up and make this moment even more special for someone that wasn’t as blessed as we were to be there.

The second winner was an ice cream man who looked like he’d been out in the heat all day.

When we approached him to ask about his thoughts on the games, we discovered that he didn’t speak much English, mostly Spanish.

But that didn’t stop us from being able to bless him with the ticket to witness history.

The World Games of this summer are by leaps and bounds the “biggest event in LA history”, per McCall Hall, a Special Olympics representative.

With the given magnitude of the event and the kind of attention that it would be garnering on a local, national, and international scale, tickets to the opening event were not easy to come by for everyone.

Doha GOALS is where world leaders come together to brainstorm, create, customize, discuss, and put into action new and improved ideas each year.

This time around they were able to have their forum in Los Angeles during the opening weekend of the Special Olympics.

Heading into the rest of what’s sure to be a great week for everyone involved — media, fan, athlete, or otherwise — there’s no doubt that this is just the beginning for an incredible experience from start to finish.

And as the week continues, the smiles, laughs, and good times together will surely follow.

Let the World Games 2015 begin!


Special Thanks to Doha GOALS & Special Olympics for reaching out to us about the opportunity.