Competition and Training Standards How to create a consistent and quality experience through sports

Everyone’s Favorite Topic: Paperwork Paperwork is one of the most important pieces of participation with Special Olympics ALL forms must be turned in to SOWY PRIOR to participation ◦This means prior to the first practice Why so important? ◦Secondary insurance ◦example

Paperwork Continued…. Paperwork required: ◦Athletes  Application for Participation (Medical) ◦ Must be signed by a medical professional  Release Form (Consent) ◦ Signed by an adult athlete with a witness ◦ Signed by a parent/guardian  Special Release for Athletes with Atlanto-Axial Instability ◦ If an athlete with Down Syndrome has a positive x-ray

Paperwork Continued… Unified Sports Partners  Application for Participation in Unified Sports  Volunteer Information and Registration Form (recommended) Class “A” Volunteers ◦Coaches, Chaperones or anyone with close and consistent contact with athletes  Volunteer Information and Registration Form The Unified Sports Partner and Class “A” Volunteer forms MUST be signed by the local coordinator (which is probably you). ◦This lets us know the volunteer has been in contact with you and knows their responsibilities.

Paperwork Continued… Prior to competitions we will send out an Errors and Exceptions form ◦This lists which athletes have missing or expired registration and consent forms  Athletes with NO records on file prior to games will NOT be allowed to participate  We are a little more lenient with athletes whose forms have expired. Quarterly reports are sent to programs listing Volunteer and Unified Sports Partner registration status

Registration Registrations for games are sent out approx. 10 weeks in advance to games ◦They can also be found on our website (show where) Please make sure to completely read through the entire registration packet (sorry for how long they are but they are full of important information). Please make sure to completely fill out the registration forms

Incomplete Registration

Incomplete Registrations Incomplete registrations lead to: ◦Delay in divisioning because we have to track you down for corrections ◦Incorrect divisioning due to lack of scores/times  This only hurts the athletes because they may be placed in a division with an athletes much more skilled than them. ◦Using scores/times from previous years leads to improper divisoning as well.  Again this only hurts the athletes

Incomplete Registrations Another consistent problem with incomplete registrations: ◦Not listing all coaches and chaperones on the Coach and Chaperone Roster  This allows us to double check if they have current volunteer registration forms on file ◦If you want information from us to be sent to specific coaches this is where you would list their address.  Having coaches send information to athletes can help you make sure every athlete and family has the appropriate information about events.

Special Olympics Special Olympics is unique from other Sports Organizations: Sports opportunities for all ability levels Divisioning for equitable competition Awards for all participants Random draw for advancement to higher levels of competition No fees charged to athletes or family

Special Olympics: Divisioning  Provide all competitors a chance to excel  No more than 3-8 athletes or teams per division  Further separated by ABILITY: For individual competition % guideline and preliminaries For team competition - Skills Assessment Tests and Classification rounds of competition  Grouped by age & gender

Special Olympics: Sports Offered Winter Games: ◦Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Snowboarding, Snow Shoe ◦State games in Jackson (February) Summer Games: ◦Aquatics, Athletics, Basketball, Powerlifting ◦State games in Laramie (May) Unified Sports Golf Tournament ◦In Douglas ◦August

Special Olympics: Sports Offered Michael G. Perry Softball Tournament ◦In Casper ◦In September Fall Tournament ◦Bowling, Soccer, Equestrian, Cycling ◦State games in Casper (October)

Special Olympics: Sports Offered Each sport consists of multiple events for athletes to compete in. For lower ability athletes wanting to compete in team sports (soccer, softball, etc.): ◦there are individual skills for them to showcase their abilities

New Sports: Tennis Just a heads up: ◦Tennis will be added as a sport to Summer Games  Gymnastics will be removed from State Summer Games ◦ But it will still be offered at Area III Summer Games ◦Dave Boon, with the USTA, is offering to host tennis clinics for those programs interested  We may be able to provide you with start up equipment  He will travel to you for the trainings Don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

Competition Standards: Area Games Area Games are offered prior to State Games for each season to offer additional competition experience for athletes. Area Games participation is required prior to State Games participation ◦Exceptions to this rule:  If an athlete is sick, out of town or can’t miss school ◦If an athlete doesn’t compete at area games because they don’t “feel like it”, they aren’t allowed to compete at State Games.

Training Standards: Training Requirements Training Requirements can be found on each registration packet and in the Sports Rules. ◦Example:  Fall Tournament minimum training requirements:  Bowling 8 weeks games  Cycling8-10 weeks 16 hrs  Equestrian 10 weeks 20 hrs  Soccer weeks 20 hrs

Training Standards: Training Requirements These minimum training requirements are set by SOI (Special Olympics International) These requirements allow for the best possible training for athletes in order to succeed in state competitions. Hours/Games played at Area Games count towards these totals.

Training Standards Take advantage of materials offered on our website: ◦Sports Rules- rules we follow for competitions and you should follow for training ◦Coaches Guides- offers great information on how to host practices and what skills to teach athletes. ◦ (navigate)

Rules Changes We are always looking for ways to improve our competitions. Please let us know if you would like to have a rule changed PRIOR to the official training season for the event. ◦Ex: adding assisted snowshoeing  This must be discussed prior to 10 weeks before state games  This allows us to accept the rule and inform ALL programs so they can incorporate the rule in their practices.

Training Standards: Coaches Trainings SOWY’s goals for coaches trainings: ◦By 2014  Each program must have 1 certified coach (in any sport) at each COMPETITION event. ◦By 2015  Each program must have 1 certified coach PER SPORT at each COMPETITOIN event. ◦ Example: if a program participates in soccer and bowling they must have a coach certified in soccer and a coach certified in bowling at state games.

Training Standards: Coaches Training We are trying to make coaches training more accessible to more people. Coaches Training Certification requires: ◦Completion of General Session  Will be offered online at (navigate) ◦Completion of Protective Behaviors Training  Offered on our website (above) ◦Attendance at a Sports-Specific Training

Training Standards: Coaches Trainings Sports Specific Trainings: ◦We have changed the format of these to be more accommodating. ◦We now offer two sessions in a day:  One in the morning and one in the afternoon  This allows one coach to be able to take two different sports trainings in one day.  This also allows some flexibility for coaches to fit the trainings into their schedules.

Training Standards: Coaches Training Lunch is offered to coaches that attend. We also offer assistance with gas reimbursement And we offer hotel stays for coaches attending the morning sessions We are working on offering two coaches trainings for each season on different sides of the state ◦To help minimize travel and time commitment.

Competition: Advancing Athletes can advance to National or World Games: ◦Athletes are chosen at random based on number of gold medals achieved at state games. ◦Quota-driven by National or World Games Committees.

Competition and Training Standards Please feel free to contact SOWY Staff at any time with questions. Just a reminder: ◦Try not to take everything on yourself ◦Involve some key volunteers or coaches to help you along the way Thank you for everything you do!

Navigating our Website ◦Where to find information about specific events ◦Where to find games results

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