Jordan Green ’27, an Elon women's soccer player, is actively involved in Elon Volunteers!'s Special Olympics Soccer with hopes to further community engagement for student atheletes.
Jordan Green ‘27 is active in more ways than one. As a D1 athlete on Elon University’s women’s soccer team, Green plays midfield and defense and is a celebrated player on the field. However, Green is also an active member of the Elon community off the field, serving as the vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and an engaged participant in Elon Volunteers!’s Special Olympics Soccer events, connecting her love of her sport to her passion for service.
“Anytime you’re doing something for the community, it makes you feel good, but it also brings you a smile to the faces of the people who you’re helping,” said Green.
Green’s involvement with Special Olympics started her freshman year at Elon when her previous teammates organized events with Special Olympics. Since then, she’s made it a goal to keep herself and her teammates at Special Olympics Soccer every week in their off-season. In the future, Green hopes to get more athletes across all sports out to the practices, driving community impact more within SAAC.
“At the end of the day, we’re playing soccer, but it’s also a social hour,” said Green. “We’re having a great time with each other. I’d consider us all friends. Like, it’s just such a happy environment.”
Though she’d always been an involved member of the Elon community, Green’s passion for connecting sports and service flourished when she got an opportunity to work as a video analyst for the US Women’s Cerebral Palsy (CP) National Team, a team launched in 2022 for players with Cerebral Palsy, stroke or traumatic brain injury.
“That’s something that kind of drove my passion to help different athletes with disabilities and show them the beauty of soccer,” said Green. “That was a big driver in my continued involvement with Social Olympic Soccer as well. I think it’s so cool to see a sport like soccer bring people together like it does.”
Green hopes her love for Special Olympics gets more people — college athletes or otherwise — to come out to the practices. Her excitement was clear when talking about the topic, emphasizing that soccer is truly a sport for people of all abilities.
“I love it. When I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can finally go to Special Olympics at 6 p.m. on Thursday.’ It’s the best day ever,” said Green. “But I would honestly love to get into more of a role within community engagement at Elon.”
Green’s favorite part of Special Olympics Soccer is getting to know the athletes and bringing a smile to the faces of everyone involved.
“The direct community is what keeps us going,” said Green, who has recognized the Special Olympics athletes as fans at many of her games. “I always tell people, Elon is like Disney World for me. I love it here. So if there’s any way I can give back to the people who do things behind the scenes that maybe don’t get the recognition that they deserve, that means so much to me.”