Young Athletes Spotlight – Sadie Fiedler

Sadie Fiedler is a well-rounded 7-year-old from Rochester who is a social butterfly and loves to be surrounded by friends. Although she’s only in first grade, Sadie has already had a lot of opportunities with Special Olympics and beyond!

Sadie Fiedler
Sadie Fiedler

She started her sporting career with gymnastics by practicing at CheerZone in Springfield at the age of 5. Loving being active, Sadie wanted to try more sports and, in October 2013, Sadie tried her hand at basketball. Her mother, Barb Fiedler, worked with Special Olympics staff to sign Sadie up for her first Special Olympics Young Athletes exhibition. Sadie participated in basketball individual skills at the State Basketball Tournament. She had such a great experience that she wanted to try EVERY sport Special Olympics has to offer.

Sadie has now participated at Summer Games soccer skills exhibition in Normal and Outdoor Sports Festival softball individual skills exhibition in Decatur. Next up for Sadie is Winter Games snowshoeing exhibition in Galena. She is also learning to swim and bowl. Through participating with various sports and activities, Sadie has been able to meet and make friends all over Central Illinois!

SadieOutside of Special Olympics sports, Sadie is one busy little girl. She is starting in her 3rd year of special needs cheerleading.  In addition to being very athletic, Sadie also has a creative arts side.  She has been in music classes since she was 2. She also started ballet, tumbling and tap dancing at the age of 16 months. And just recently, Sadie has been in involved with four beauty pageants. This opportunity has really encouraged her to answer questions on stage with a lot of people watching. She really enjoys the attention. Sadie is also very involved in 4-H; she just finished her 2nd year in the program.

Sadie has amazingly supportive family with her two brothers, Jake, 15, and Scott, 10, and mom and dad.  Her brothers love to watch and coach Sadie with all of her sports.  She also loves to coach them with their sports, mainly wrestling.  She also has a pet cockatiel that she is training to talk and do tricks.

We are so happy to have such an incredible family and athlete as part of our organization. We look forward to seeing what Sadie accomplished in her Special Olympics career in the future.