For the past five years, the TFH Gold Coast Titans have hosted a very special group of Queenslanders on match day, with children from the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland taking centre stage at CBUS Super Stadium.
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The children are partnered with players from the Gold Coast Titans and Knights and made to feel extra special as they run out just prior to kick off.
Gold Coast Titans player Morgan Boyle who spent time with some of the DASQ children yesterday said the players look forward to the run out as much as the children do.
"It was a great day, the kids loved it and it was just great to see the little smiles on their faces for something so simple"
"We have been working with them for five years now, same with the Knights and it's just great to see something so simple and they just love it out on the stage with the atmosphere and so do we."
Twenty-five Down Syndrome kids and their families are travelling to the Gold Coast to take part in Saturdays' run out, DASQ parent Cally Ward saying what on the surface seems to be a relatively simple initiative, provides far reaching benefits.
"DSAQ really values the relationship with the Titans, we have been going for five years now, this is the fifth year in a row the children have run out with the players and it's just really beneficial to the families and to the kids"
"The kids get a really fantastic opportunity to do a once in a lifetime experience, they can go back to school and they can do show and tell and they really feel the passion of the crowd, they love the excitement and the atmosphere of the game and for the families, they get to really celebrate their child and see their child do something that in the normal scheme of things they would never do so we are extremely grateful to the Gold Coast titans for creating this opportunity for children with Down syndrome"
Twenty-five children will run out with players from both teams before Saturdays match with a further ten young adults waving flags and supporting the younger children.
"The crowd also get the chance to see the kids running out and doing something and really playing a role in the community and community is really important to the Titans and it's really important to the down syndrome community as well, we need people to come up and say hi and really enjoy the kids and give them a sense of belonging and community because that's what's going to carry them forward as they grow up"
Boyle and the Titans joined the community team at North Burleigh Surf Lifesaving Club following today's recovery session, making a difference off field as important to the players as their performances on it"
"We have been working on that since day one, ever since I came up it's been driven into me, it's great to get behind the community and they get behind us"
Make sure you are there to cheer for our friends at DSAQ this Saturday.
Gates open at 12:35pm with the NRL action getting underway from 3:00pm.
