A team of their own!

A few of our younger children have significant special needs and haven't had the opportunity to join any sports teams or clubs until recently.  Our local Special Olympics recently started a program for 2-11 year olds (Active Start and Fundementals) and 6 of our kids in this age bracket have had the ability to join.  The first practice was on Monday and the kids were extremely excited.  Special Olympics set up the group with a "sports team" feel and all the kids received team shirts to wear for each practice.

They now have their own sports team! I was really hoping that there would be many other kids for them to meet and interact with while learning new activities and maybe in the future there will be but unfortunately there is only one other child so far.  One of our teens came to watch her sibling and thought it looked like so much fun she signed up to be a volunteer.  I am always impressed by the support the children show for one another and their various interests whether it's volunteering at their activities or being the best cheerleader imaginable.

At their "team practice" they do a warm up, then play games building different skills which nicely align with the goals their physical therapist has for them, have a healthy snack and then a bit of free play.  Yesterday they did circuits with various jumping skills, practiced throwing, catching and kicking balls, and played games with simple rules like duck, duck, goose, what time is it Mr Wolf and a variation of tag.

I am so impressed with Special Olympics we have adult children that have been participating for the last 2 years and now the younger children have a group for them.  The skill and dedication of the volunteers amazes me and I am truly thankful that these people include my children.

Hockey, swimming and Special Olympics

With the close of this season of sports, our young adults involved in Special Olympics have been participating in the end of season competitions.I really like Special Olympics, all the people there are so loving and accepting, having been too many local practices and then competitions with multiple teams I believe this is the way most of the groups are.  This applies to the many dedicated volunteers and the athletes alike.  There aren't to many places that you can walk into that everyone, even strangers, are excited to see you and will come up and give you a hug.

Ring hockey recently had a tournament and then a fun game against our local junior hockey team.  At the tournament they played against multiple teams unfortunately the teams were all ranked higher than them and they didn't really have a chance.  The wide point spread didn't seem to deter any of their effort or enthusiasm while playing.  The week after their tournament they had a game with local junior hockey team as a fundraiser to support their team.  The young men from the junior hockey team were amazing with our athletes.  They played to the teams level, maybe even slightly under, yet didn't make it obvious, engaged our team team and thoroughly seemed to enjoy playing against our team.  When either team scored a goal, which didn't happen often for the guest team, everyone (didn't matter what team you were on) was giving high fives, much to the surprise of our guests.

The kids also participated in a swim meet recently and we were completely surprised when our daughter came home with a 1st and 2nd place ribbon.  Each athlete had the opportunity to sign up too race in what stroke and length of swim they felt able to compete in.  Everyone that attends practice for whatever sport is able to participate in the competitions and everyone has the opportunity to participate the same amount.  The cheering was incredibly loud for every swimmer as the other participants encouraged one another.  It was amazing too see athletes that really seem to struggle with their limited mobility on land, get into the water and enjoy competing no matter what their ability level.  It did not matter whether they won or lost they participated, everyone cheered for them and they were proud of their accomplishment.

In our area some of the athletes participate in every sport available but for our young adults we limit them to 2 per season as we try to keep a balance with everything in our life.  I strongly encourage you to check into Special Olympics if you have someone in your life that would benefit from joining or if you are sports minded and willing to volunteer your time.  For now we are heading into softball and soccer season so you will see at the fields.