Contact: Camille Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s kinesiology department is hosting its third StarkVegas Fútbol Jamboree Saturday [April 9] on the Starkville Campus, the first since the annual event took a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The soccer festival is designed for members of the MSU, Starkville and surrounding communities and will begin at 8 a.m. at the Multipurpose Fields on Stone Boulevard.

Participants of all ages and skill levels are welcome, and winners in each of five divisions will receive prizes. Registration can be completed online at www.svfj.weebly.com. The cost is $30 per team. Those interested in volunteering also can sign up via the same website.

The kinesiology department is collaborating with the university’s ACCESS program, and a unified division will be made up of ACCESS students enrolled in J.J. Chen’s adapted physical activity course. An associate professor of kinesiology and event co-creator, Chen hopes to bring communities together through sport while supporting students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

ACCESS is Mississippi’s only post-secondary program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities and provides a complete college experience, along with a curriculum that encompasses independent living skills and internship opportunities.

“This is a great opportunity for people in this community to become more welcoming and open to not only exercise, but also to people who are different from them,” Chen said. “I want people to see that our ACCESS students are more than capable of playing sports—that they are just like everyone else."

Chen said Soyoun Lim, a fellow assistant professor of kinesiology, also is playing an important collaborating role because her sports administration students in an event management course first spearheaded planning the activity. Lim said this provides an important experience for these students.

“The jamboree is a class project for my students to work on throughout the spring semester,” Lim said. “They take care of developing a mission, goals, objectives and event logistics like sponsorships, budgeting, promotion and operation.”

This year’s jamboree is sponsored by Farm Bureau insurance alongside the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities and the National Association of Kinesiology in Higher Education.

For more information, contact Lim at s.lim@msstate.edu or Chen at cc2196@msstate.edu. Follow @msstatekine on Twitter and @starkvegasfj on Instagram for updates.

Established in 1903, MSU’s College of Education is home to six academic departments, one research unit and numerous service units. For more about the college, visit www.educ.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.