Erika Ender shares how sports and the Special Olympics can make a difference

World-renowned musician Erika Ender is a global ambassador for the Special Olympics. She shared with FanSided why the organization means so much to her and the athletes.

Lots of people may be excited to watch some football as we close out the season with the Super Bowl on Sunday. But around the world, all sports are being embraced by the Special Olympics. Representing the organization at Super Bowl 54 in Miami, musician Erika Ender chatted with FanSided to reveal how the organization is making an impact on the lives of Special Olympic athletes everywhere.

Ender is a global ambassador for the Special Olympics, and she’s seen first-hand how impactful the inclusion of sports can be when it comes to the athletes.

“The Special Olympics really surprised me because I got to see that they have more than one million volunteers,” she said. “And this movement is really infectious, how they really change the life of each athlete by empowering them, by giving them self-confidence, by transforming their whole families and society itself.”

Ender said she’s seen the transformation of the athletes herself, including student-athlete Sebastian Cespedes, who joined Ender in Miami to talk about his experience.

Cespedes’ school is one of 7,500 schools that take part in the Unified Schools program. The Special Olympics says it “intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments.” His coach, who accompanied him that day, mentioned how the program has brought the students closer, prompting them to spend time inside and outside of school. So far, Cespedes has enjoyed playing all kinds of sports, including football, basketball, and golf.

As Ender put it, the Special Olympics is an excuse to do good in the world. That everything has a purpose or a mission. In the U.S. alone, there have been 200,000 events and 7.4 million experiences from the Special Olympics. That feeling of having a mission, she felt, also applied to her hit single, “Despacito,” which broke records and tore down barriers in 2017.

“This song came with a mission of uniting the world no matter what language it was in,” Ender told FanSided. “And at the same time, letting us Latinos showcase our world, you know? … I’m super, super happy to be part of this movement and also to understand that we got to unite the world through a song.”

To learn more about the Special Olympics and how you can get involved, check out their website, SpecialOlympics.org.