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Special Olympics

Athlete Oath:
“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Mission

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Overview

The Special Olympics program at Chico State provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people eight years of age and older with developmental disabilities. The various activity programs offered give the athletes continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skill, and friendship with their families, other athletes as well as the community.

For the students, this elective course is designed to prepare and give real-world hands-on knowledge. Participation in the course will give students other opportunity to choose form a variety of activities and learning experiences. There are three main areas that the students will participate in: Sport Program, Development and Marketing, and Administrative responsibilities. All areas have a community volunteers and/or SONC (Special Olympics Northern California) personnel responsible for the managing the overall operation.

Curriculum

Laboratory Courses

Course Description

KINE 298B/C Service Learning Through Special Olympics (2.0–3.0 units, Fall / Spring)

Students will engage in service learning experiences through participation in KINE 298C planning and team building activities and working with Special Olympics. Students have direct contact to SOBC Area Director, Area Committee members and local community business and service groups. Students may attend SONC conferences, trainings, competitions and events. Butte County APE (Adapted Physical Education) teachers will facilitate Special Olympic school site programs with CSUC students as coaches. Similarly, CSUC students coaches can offer training for adult athletes through SOBC and Do-It sports program. Event planning and organization will be threaded throughout the course including assignments related to coaching, public relations, marketing, budget and fund raising. Writing skills, public speaking and development skills will be included. Management practices used by SONC will be modeled at conferences, area competitions and visitations.

Activities and Learning Opportunities

Students will be able to choose from a variety of activities and learning experiences. Below is a list and description of these activities. There are three main areas: Sport Programs, Development and Marketing and Administrative responsibilities. All areas have community volunteers and/or SONC personnel responsible for the managing the overall operation.

Sports Programs

• Training: Attend SOBC sport practices as either a coach or unified partner.
• Competition: Part of Games Management Team (GMT) at local competitions, attend SONC Area Games.
• Volunteers: Recruit volunteers for various activities, make presentations, data entry/maintain files.
• Outreach: Developing and implementing a plan to reach eligible athletes (ie: schools, WTC, ARC, group homes, schools).
• Families: Developing specific steps to encourage family members to participate through volunteer efforts and offer support.

Development & Marketing

• Fund Raising: Participate and promote the Walk for the Gold (Fall) and Tip-a-Cop (Spring) fund raising efforts; ICON campaign year round.
• Public Relations: Responsible for media coverage and communications regarding Area activities.
• Law Enforcement: Responsible for communicating with law enforcement agencies within our area.
• Special events: Organization implementation of special events (ie: Torch Run Kick Off; Recognition Dinner).

Administrative

• Medical: Responsible for keeping track of participation forms on athletes and unifies partners. Also responsible for providing medical personnel at events.
• Finance: Keep financial records and providing financial reports; participate in the budget process and area report.
• Technology: Data entry, web page maintenance, etc.
• Management: Keep office hours, answer phone, return calls, follow through with sending out information.

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