2016 Area Conference 1 / Special Olympics Texas

Hello Coaches ! Thank you for all you do for the athletes and families of Special Olympics Texas. This PowerPoint contains the updates you will find in the 2016 SOTX Information Guide (SIG). Certified coaches are responsible for these updates as well as the balance of the important information in the SIG. Contact your area office or the chapter office if you have questions about information contained in the 2016 SOTX Sports Information Guide. The online Coaches Recertification will only be available from January 5 th – February 29 th, Thank you for all you do! Molly Kuchar Director of Program Training Special Olympics Texas 2 / Special Olympics Texas

Area Conference In order to receive credit for attending the 2016 Coaches Recertification: Review the PowerPoint and the Terms of Agreement Check YES next to each statement Enter your contact information and hit SUBMIT. (The form will only SUBMIT if you check YES next to each statement, enter your contact information and hit SUBMIT) All individuals must submit Terms of Agreement with own address Cannot share the same address – only one address per submission will be accepted The online Coaches Recertification will only be available from January 5 th – February 29 th, Thank you for all you do! Molly Kuchar Director of Program Training Special Olympics Texas 3 / Special Olympics Texas

2016 Chapter Competition Dates February 4 th – 7 th Winter Games (Austin) May 20 th – 22 nd Equestrian Summer Games (Bryan) May 26 th – 29 th Summer Games (Arlington) TBD Sailing and Kayaking (Dallas) October 13 th – 16 th Fall Classic (Bryan-College Station) December 2 nd – 3 rd Flag Football (San Antonio) 4 / Special Olympics Texas

5 / Special Olympics Texas Volunteer Eligibility

2015 Award Winners ‣ Female Athlete of the Year, 15-21: Kayla Gray, Area 22 ‣ Female Athlete of the Year, 22+: Kathryn Albertini, Area 11 ‣ Male Athlete of the Year, 15-21: Riley Blatz, Area 13 ‣ Male Athlete of the Year, 22+: Scott Wendt, Area 10 6 / Special Olympics Texas

2015 Award Winners ‣ Coach of the Year: Rose Antony, Area 10 ‣ Family of the Year: The Gresham Family, Area 10 ‣ Trainer of the Year: Sally Stacy, Area 9 ‣ Unified Sports Partner of the Year: Melinda Escamilla, Area 2 ‣ Volunteer of the Year: Rick Kohn, Area 10 7 / Special Olympics Texas

8 / Special Olympics Texas 2015 Award Winners

‣ Outstanding Service from a Business/Corporation: Coca-Cola Refreshments of Houston, Area 4 ‣ Outstanding Service from a Civic or Service Organization: UTSA: Alpha Sigma Alpha-Delta Upsilon Chapter, Area 20 ‣ Outstanding Service from a Community Leader: David Gonzalez, Area 21 ‣ Outstanding Volunteer for Fundraising: Corpus Christi Police Department, Area 2 ‣ Outstanding Service for Outreach: Signa Segrest, Area 4 ‣ Outstanding Volunteer for Sports and Competition: Teresa Sullivan, Area 20 9 / Special Olympics Texas

10 Coaching

Coach Certification Steps required to maintain your coach certification: Complete Protective Behaviors every 3 years Complete Concussion in Sports Training every 3 years Submit a new Class A Volunteer Application every 3 years Complete Criminal Background Check every 4 years  Submit all renewals and training completion certificates to Area Office to receive credit for completion.  Contact your Area Office for certification expiration dates. 11 / Special Olympics Texas

12 Training

Concussion in Sports Training  This training is for all new and current SOTX Coaches as part of the Coach certification requirement.  All users will receive a certificate of completion upon course completion.  To receive credit, please forward all completion certificates to Area Office and save copy for personal records.  All coaches must take Concussion in Sports Training once every 3 years in congruence with Class A Volunteer Application 13 / Special Olympics Texas

14 / Special Olympics Texas Online Trainings United States Bowling Course Coaching Level I Bowling  USBC Coaching Level I Bowling Online course – $49.00 Sport Specific Level 1 Course – basic sport skills and strategies.  US Bowling Congress requires that Special Olympics Texas bowling coaches complete a separate criminal background check before taking USBC online training course.

15 / Special Olympics Texas Online Trainings Divisioning Training  The fundamental difference between Special Olympics competitions and those of other sports organizations is that athletes of all ability levels are encouraged to participate, and every athlete is recognized for his/her performance.  Competitions are structured so that athletes compete with other athletes of similar ability in equitable divisions. This free online video will help explain this concept in theory and practice: "Game On: A Quick Guide to Special Olympics Divisioning.”

Training 16 / Special Olympics Texas Food for Fitness Innovation Grant funded by Finish Line purposed to educate Athletes on Nutrition in effort to promote healthier lifestyles. Nutritional training lessons available for coaches to incorporate through eight week training season during practice sessions.  8 week training lesson plans available for coaches to include in practices to promote healthy lifestyles for athletes, coaches and families.  Nutritional placemat available for athletes to keep as a guide to help improve food choices and portion sizes.  Fitness components incorporated in each lesson plan to keep Athletes moving outside of practice. o Interested? Contact Norm Arias -

Training 17 / Special Olympics Texas Texercise  Through the support of Finish Line, SOTX partnered with Texas Department of Aging and Disability Service (DADS) with their Texercise program.  Texercise is a health promotion program to educate athletes in physical activity and good nutrition.  Guidebook to encourage moderate movement and healthy nutritional choices for aging and living well to promote Healthy Communities for all.  Athletes can be considered Athletes in Training while participating in Texercise. o Interested? Contact Norm Arias -

18 General Policies

Animal Policy Only service animals permitted on site No therapy animals permitted on site  Service animal: provide specific task of service to an individual with a disability and is protected under the ADA.  Therapy or Emotional Support Animal: provide comfort to an individual and is not protected under the ADA. 19

Health & Safety 20 / Special Olympics Texas

Health & Safety 21 Disclosure of Misconduct or Inappropriate Behavior The report should be completed for any situation during or outside a Special Olympics event where a participant creates a behavior problem that violates the code of conduct, is detrimental to participating athletes, or affects the positive image of Special Olympics. Participants are defined as, but not limited to, athlete, coach, volunteer or family member.

Chapter Sports Management Team 22 / Special Olympics Texas

Sports Management Team 23 New Chapter Sports Management Team Application/Nomination Form  Contact Area office if interested in applying for 2017 Committee  November 1 st, 2016 application deadline  See section L for further SMT descriptions

2016 Meeting Schedule 24 / Special Olympics Texas February 25: Conference call June 16: Conference call September 23: Chapter Office in Austin November 3: Conference call

25 Rules and Competition

26 Like athletes, Unified Partners must be at least 8 years of age to compete at the Area Level and at least 12 years old to compete at the Chapter or NIT Level. Unified Partners must participate at an Area level competition to compete at a Chapter Games. Unified Teams participating at Chapter games must have participated on a Unified Team at an Area level in order to advance. This is mandatory for all participants including Athletes and Unified Partners.

Rules and Competition 27 For all team competitions that have individual skills, a minimum of 8 participants will be required for SOTX to offer the skills event at Chapter Games. This will be determined based on the number of participants registered on the Chapter entries deadline.

Registration 28 / Special Olympics Texas Registration

29 Registration Event Code Changes: Athletics - Track Events 25m Assisted Race = AT25AR 50m Assisted Race = AT50AR Athletics – Field Events Tennis Ball Throw = ATTBTD Consult your Area Office for your Area Chapter deadline

30 Registration Last-Minute Volunteer Substitutions  In case of last-minute delegation volunteer substitution during event registration, the HOD must accompany the substituted volunteer to the Volunteer Table to verify their Class A Volunteer status with the Director of Volunteers. All substitutes must be current Class A Volunteers.

31 Summer Games

Summer Games Basketball quota is distributed to Areas based on Area participation. 32 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Athletics - Track ‣ Unified Pentathlon will be offered in a coed format ‣ Athlete competing with a wheelchair or assisted device may enter two track events and one field event. ‣ Unified Partners will be allowed to participate in up to two Unified Sports relays in Athletics. ‣ 25m and 50m Assisted Races will replace the 25m & 50m Assisted Walking events 33 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Basketball Team Skills Competition: ‣ Each team for Team Skills will have a maximum roster size of 8 athletes. Individual Skills: ‣ A new minimum for entries in order to host Basketball Individual Skills has been set for Chapter Summer Games. A minimum of 8 athletes must be entered at the time of entries in order to host the event. If this minimum is not met, the event will not be hosted and Delegations will be notified that these athletes are being scratched. 34 / Special Olympics Texas

35 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Basketball 3-on-3 Traditional Half Court:  Modification to the minimum for 3-on-3 Traditional Half Court for Chapter Summer Games. A minimum of 9 teams in each hoop height (8’ and 10’) will be required to host the event. If the minimum is not met at the time of entries, the delegations will be notified and those athletes will be scratched. 36 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Equestrian  Drill team has a maximum time limit of 5 minutes to complete their routine. Any team that exceeds 5 minutes will be disqualified. 37 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Soccer  Soccer footwear shall consist of turf shoes, soccer cleats with rubber cleats or tennis shoes. Players may not wear anything that may be dangerous or cause injury to another player. 38 / Special Olympics Texas

Summer Games Cycling The following events have been removed from the SOTX programming as SOI has removed them from their offered events: ‣ 1km Unified Sports Road Race ‣ 5km Unified Sports Road Race ‣ 10km Unified Sports Road Race ‣ 15km Unified Sports Road Race ‣ 25km Unified Sports Road Race ‣ 40km Unified Sports Road Race 39 / Special Olympics Texas

40 Fall Classic

41 / Special Olympics Texas Golf Athletes and Unified Partners that enter averages over the maximums listed below will not be able to enter and play in that level at competition. Athletes and Unified Partners that shoot over these averages during competition will be disqualified and receive a participation ribbon. Level 2: average of 75 or lower Level 3: average of 120 or lower (18 holes) Level 4: average of 70 or lower Level 5: average of 120 or lower

42 Winter Games

43 Bowling Unified Partners are allowed to use ramps in Bowling Ramp events.

Winter Games 44 / Special Olympics Texas Volleyball Each competition committee has the option to set the game cap to

45 Development

46 / Special Olympics Texas Delegations/Teams may NOT conduct raffles or drawings as fundraisers.

Names and Addresses 47 / Special Olympics Texas Names and Addresses Name & Addresses

New Sport Directors 48 / Special Olympics Texas Aquatics Bob Lang (214) Flag Football Chris Gormley (972) Bowling Keith Hass (830)

New Training Directors 49 / Special Olympics Texas Area 1 Twinkle Morgan (361) Area 12 Susan Huey (817) Area 13 Debbie Legg (512)

Next Steps: 50 / Special Olympics Texas 1.Return to the Area Conference homepage 2.Review the Terms of Agreement 3.Enter your contact information with own address - All users must submit with individual for successful submission 4.Select YES under each statement 5.Hit SUBMIT 6.Save the confirmation page for your records The 2016 SOTX Information Guide (SIG) can be accessed from Contact your area office or the chapter office if you have questions about information contained in the 2016 SOTX Information Guide.

51 / Special Olympics Program Name Thank you for your time. Best of luck in 2016!