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Sports and Development - July 2014

Dear <<First Name>>,

I recently attended the USA Special Olympics Games which was very useful in gathering information that will help us in the organisation of our next National Summer Games (see below).

Despite the fact that Special Olympics is longer established and much better funded in the USA than here, it was interesting to see how similar their Games are to ours in many respects. One difference that I did note however, was that generally I felt that the standard of preparation of athletes for competition was not as high in the USA as it is here.

This is testament to the quality of our coaches and volunteers and the quality of the training that you provide. Helping our athletes be the best that they can in their chosen sports is one of the cornerstones of our philosophy and is something that you are trying to achieve at every coaching session. You are (to use a word I heard rather too often while I was away) â€˜awesomeâ€™.

Best wishes,

Andy Heffer
Director of Sports & Development

2017 National Summer Games Update

We are in the process of selecting a host for the 2017 National Summer Games. At the moment, the plan is for the Games to follow a similar format to 2013 although we are hoping to be able to accommodate some additional sports and possibly extend the Games from four days to five.

We received several good bids to host the Games and have now narrowed these down to a shortlist of two â€“ Bath and Sheffield.

We hope to be able to make the final announcement of where the Games will be taking place at the end of July.

Open Water Swimming

Very much the new kid on the block, open water swimming made its Special Olympics International debut in 2011 at the World Summer Games in Athens as a demonstration sport and will be making its senior debut in LA in 2015. Special Olympics GB itself held its first ever National event in Chichester in 2013. In June 2014 Special Olympics GB also sent four athletes out to Holland to compete in their first International event. Read more.

Basketball

Basketball is the second most popular team sport in Special Olympics GB after football. Nine teams competed at the most recent National Basketball Competition held in Sheffield in March 2014. You donâ€™t have to be 7â€™ tall and able to slam-dunk the ball to play and enjoy basketball â€“ it really is suitable for all ages and abilities. In Sheffield some of the best competition was in a six-team â€˜Bâ€™ division where the average height was less than 5â€™ 6â€! Read more.

Eurostar is the travel partner for the 2014 European Summer Games GB Team

Special Olympics GB and Eurostar have launched a new partnership to support athletes with intellectual disabilities heading to the 2014 European Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium this September.

Eurostar is the exclusive travel partner and will provide all return travel and logistical support for the 72 Special Olympics GB athletes, coaches and officials heading to Brussels from St Pancras International on 9th September. Read more.

2015 World Summer Games GB Team Update

Special Olympics Great Britain sent a team of swimmers and athletics athletes to compete at the Special Olympics Southern California Summer Games - which was also a test games before the Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015.

At the end of the Games, our athletes won four gold, five silver and three bronze medals and eight 4th place ribbons, one 5th place ribbon, two 7th place ribbons and one 8th place ribbon. Superb tally for eight athletes!

The team was also invited to the deputy British consulate's house for a relaxing meal and dip in the pool.

Upcoming Competitions

19 July: Special Olympics GB 2014 National Open Water Swimming Competition
2-3 August:Tennis Foundation Learning Disability Camp
16-17 August: Special Olympics GB 2014 National Cycling Competition
5-7 September: 4 Nations Para-Badminton Championships (Wales)
31 October-2 November: 11th National Learning Disability Tennis Event
1-2 November: Special Olympics GB 2014 National Indoor Athletics Competition
14-16 November: 4 Nations Para-Badminton Championships (Ireland)

All you need to know about Unified Sports in one handy document

Using the past six years of experience from national and local developments, we have created a Unified Sports Handbook to help your Club to start, develop and maintain a successful Unified Sports programme in your area.

Special Olympics Unified Sports promotes inclusion through bringing together people with intellectual disabilities (known as athletes) and people without (known as unified partners), to train and compete on the same teams and in the same competitions.

Unified Sports participants can improve their physical fitness, sharpen their skills, challenge themselves through competition and have fun whilst participating in a variety of sports, ranging from football to basketball to tennis.

The Unified Sports Handbook contains subjects such as the Benefits of Unified Sports, a Step by Step Guide on developing Unified Sports and various Case Studies to help give you an idea of what other Clubs have achieved.

The Handbook will be an extremely valuable resource for any Club wanting to develop Unified Sports, and can be viewed, downloaded and printed for free by clicking here.

For further support and guidance on developing Unified Sports, please contact Special Olympics GB Programme Development Manager, Jason Cornwell by email or 020 7247 8891.

A new Coaching Guide from the Athleteâ€™s point of view

Our friends at Special Olympics Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Colorado have created a guide we think would be of interest and value to your club.

The Athlete Centered Coaching Guide was created to encourage coaches to learn more about their athletes by identifying individual strengths, weaknesses, and the personality traits that make people with intellectual disabilities unique from fellow teammates.

This guide is a general introduction to coaching adults and children with intellectual disabilities, focusing on the athlete instead of the sport. Sections of this guide focus on behaviors commonly associated with intellectual disabilities and effective strategies to improve athlete learning. To download the Athlete Centered Coaching Guide please click here.

New Guide For Coaches on Nutrition, Sport Psychology and Sports Injuries

The Special Olympics Sports Sciences Guide, which is intended for Special Olympics coaches, is now available on the SOI resources website.

This new guide address topics not already covered in existing coaching guides. It was written by three sports sciences professionals to address needs of Special Olympics athletes. The sciences guide has three sections, Nutrition Guide for Coaches, Sport Psychology Guide for Coaches, and Sports Injury Guide for Coaches.Click the related link to download the guides at Coaching Guides.

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