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This is the September edition of the Healthy @ Home newsletter that is shared with athletes and coaches. Be sure to follow Special Olympics Ontario on social media for continued updates or visit specialolympicsontario.com for additional information.

Special Olympics Athlete Spotlight

This month, we are highlighting Neil MacDonald from Brantford, Ontario! Neil has been a part of Special Olympics for the past 25 years, and competes in a wide range of sports, including bocce, curling, floor hockey and softball! Back in 2019, Neil was a part of Team Canada's bocce team that competed in the Special Olympics World Games that took place in Abu Dhabi! Neil was honoured to be a part of the national team, and says that this was one of his greatest Special Olympics memories!

National Coaches Week Coming Soon!

- Training Opportunities for Coaches -

National Coaches Week (Sept 17-25) is a week to celebrate the tremendous positive impact coaches have on athletes and communities across Canada. This year the Coaches Association of Ontario is running several in-person community clinics and sport specific NCCP at a huge discount - up to 90% off regular registration rates!  

PLUS you can register for NCCP Coaching Athletes with a Disability eLearning module for FREE.

This eLearning module provides the knowledge to deliver quality, positive sport experiences for athletes, specifically those with behavioural, intellectual, physical, and sensory disabilities.

SOC Competition Coaches Course

In conjunction with National Coaches Week, Special Olympics Ontario will be offering a free SOC Competition Coach Course for volunteers.

The goals of the Competition Course are preparation for local, district or provincial competition with the primary focus on safety, fun, fitness, fundamentals, and performance as well as basic skills of the sport. 

The course will be offered virtually September 19, 20 and 21 via Zoom.

SPACES ARE LIMITED!

Canada Summer Games

Last month, 11 Special Olympics Ontario athletes had the chance to compete at the 2022 Canada Summer Games - they're all coming home proud of their achievements, but what was even more meaningful to them was the people they met and the unique experiences they had!

Congratulations to all of the athletes who competed - we're so proud of you!

Let's Make Media Accessible!

Partnered with Mohawk College, 'The Introduction to Accessible Content and Media Production Program' by Owlware Ltd, is a free 14-week certificate program for anyone 18+ with a self disclosed disability within the Peel, Halton, Toronto, & Hamilton regions. This program offers Ontarians of all disabilities and backgrounds immersive learning and work experience in the field of ‘Accessible Digital Media’.

Please send a resume and a brief description of why you'd be a good candidate to [email protected] & [email protected] by September 9th, 2022.

Lil E Cafe - Now Hiring for General Manager!

What first started in Calgary, Alberta as an inclusive workforce offering great coffee, great customer service and a great community connection is now coming to Toronto!

The Lil E Coffee Café is a registered not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of people with an intellectual disability through employment. The second location is being opened in Toronto along St. Clair Avenue, and they are seeking a general manager!

This opportunity is being presented to Special Olympics volunteers first before being offered to the general public. We ask that you:

• have at least one year of work or volunteer experience with Special Olympics Ontario
• are passionate about making a difference in the lives of people with an intellectual disability
• believe in making dreams come true

RECFEST is BACK!

In partnership with SMILE, RECFEST is an event catered for everyone of all abilities and backgrounds and was designed to bring the entire community together. We invite you and yours to attend RECFEST; our only rule is to make sure you have fun - and with what we have in store, that'll be easy!

We plan to have inflatables, obstacle courses, arts and crafts stations, ball hockey, a bazaar, a photo booth, and so much more! All attendees will have the opportunity to be entered into our biggest raffle of the year, which includes prizes like tickets to Niagra parks attraction and historic sites valued at over $400, tickets to the zoo, aquarium, cineplex packages, and more!

Tickets are FREE for Special Olympics Ontario athletes and their families - just use the promo code SMILEXSO441 at checkout!

Research Participants Needed!

Calling Special Olympics athletes! There are a several research studies going on that you have been invited to participate in! 

Do you like sports? Come join our study! The University of Windsor is looking for participants to complete a questionnaire assessing attitudes towards inclusive sport.

If you are interested and fall into at least one of the following categories, click below to see the questionnaire!

Diet Quality Study

Researchers at the University of St. Joseph are performing a study surrounding diet quality and we want YOU to help! Researchers will be looking at diet quality by using an electronic tool that uses pictures to collect information about the foods you eat and how much of the foods you eat. This will take you about 30 minutes to do. After you finish filling that out, you will immediately receive a report telling you all about your diet. 

A small group of participants may be selected randomly to provide additional information. For those in the small group, you may be contacted 3 more times to ask more questions about what you eat in a typical day. Each of these sessions will take about 30 minutes. These will take place once a month for three months and then at the end you may be asked to fill out the electronic tool again. Your parent or caregiver can help you if you’d like.

Check out the video below and click below to get involved!

Focus Groups with Youth - SIECCAN

SIECCAN is a not-for-profit organization that promotes sexual health of Canadians. We are making resources to help service providers promote sexual health with Autistic youth and disabled youth (with physical disabilities). This project is funded by Health Canada. 

We are working with Wisdom2Action to run focus groups. We want to learn from (1) Autistic and neurodivergent youth, as well as (2) disabled youth (physical disabilities) about their dating and relationship experiences and also, what sexual health information they want to know more about. We will use this information to make sexual health promotion resources for service providers who work with Autistic and/or disabled youth.

Below are the focus group sessions:

Tues. Sept. 20 at 7pm ET:

Open session for disabled youth (physical disabilities)

Wed. Sept. 21 at 7pm ET:

Session for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) disabled youth (physical disabilities)

Thurs. Sept. 22 at 7pm ET:

Open session for Autistic and neurodivergent youth

Fri. Sept. 23 at 7pm ET:

Session for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) Autistic and neurodivergent youth 

If you are between the ages of 16 and 24 and are interested in participating, please email [email protected]. 

Hometown Games

More Hometown Games are happening across the province!

Registration is still open for ALL of these events, so click below to participate today! 

Happening this month:

SEPTEMBER 10

Thunder Bay Golf

SEPTEMBER 11

Port Colborne Bocce

SEPTEMBER 19

Port Colborne Golf

Don't see an upcoming Hometown Games near you? Stay tuned to your emails and our social media channels for more dates and locations coming soon! We can't wait to see you back on the playing field!

Share Your Special Olympics Story

For the chance to have your Special Olympics story featured in a future newsletter, social media post, or campaign, submit your information on our Athlete Profile Form! Fill out your information, tell us your story, and submit a photo of you participating in Special Olympics, or include a headshot. 

Twitter Follower Contest 

Our social media contest is still in full swing! The contest will continue until the Special Olympics Ontario Twitter account has reached 10,000 total followers. 

To enter the contest you must:

1. Follow @SOOntario on Twitter
2. Retweet the Contest Tweet (click here to view the contest tweet)
3. Reside in Canada

You could win a Special Olympics Ontario prize pack once we reach 9,600 followers, and the grand prize of a $250 Sobeys gift card when we reach 10,000 followers! 

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