Lily Goodfellow, a 22-year-old Naperville native and lifelong Special Olympics competitor, heads to Minneapolis to serve as Team Illinois's field reporter at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games.

Special Olympics Illinois selected Goodfellow to produce written stories and video content covering the team's experience at the weeklong national event, which runs June 20–26 at the University of Minnesota and the National Sports Center in Blaine. Nearly 3,000 athletes from all 50 states will compete in 16` sports.

Goodfellow won't be competing this time. She'll be the one asking the questions.

"I'm really excited to have fun out there and just be my personal best," Goodfellow told NCTV17.

Her reporting background runs deep for someone her age. At Naperville Central High School, she joined Redhawk TV, the student-led broadcast network, conducting on-camera interviews with athletes and creating her own segment, "Lily's Inclusion Corner." She earned the school's Strongest Redhawk Award. After graduating, she completed a journalism certificate at College of DuPage, where she launched a weekly Athlete of the Week column she still writes as an alumna.

Goodfellow, who was born with Down syndrome and stands 4 feet, 6 inches tall, started competing in Special Olympics at age four, according to a profile by Special Olympics Illinois. Her mother, Nancy Goodfellow, said the family keeps a step stool in the car for interviews with taller athletes.

She has since built a broadcasting portfolio that includes her YouTube channel, Lily's Sports Beat, where she has interviewed pros like Connor Murphy of the Chicago Blackhawks and Jake Berger of the Texas Rangers. In 2024, Cynopsis, a media-industry trade publication, honored her as "Game Changing On-Air Talent" for her work broadcasting the Gaming for Inclusion e-sports showcase in Los Angeles. She also works as a guest services associate for the Chicago Cubs and checks tickets at the United Center.

Goodfellow told NCTV17 her ultimate goal is a job at ESPN.

Team Illinois's delegation includes 54 athletes and Unified partners, 14 coaches, and nine support staff, according to Special Olympics Illinois. Goodfellow has already been filing stories for the organization, reporting from Team Illinois's training camp in Bloomington-Normal in April and producing a video feature published May 20.

The Opening Ceremony takes place Saturday, June 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium. ESPN will stream 48 hours of live competition on ESPN+ and Disney+, with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT.