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This is the October edition of the Community Connect Newsletter that is shared with our whole Special Olympics Ontario community. | | |
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Major Games Update
This month's Major Games update features coaching applications for the 2025 Provincial Summer Games in Brantford!
Learn more by scrolling down!
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Women in Sport Series
Our inaugural Women in Sport Series is about to begin, with a basketball competition (among others) on the way!
Learn more by scrolling down!
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Floorball: Our New Official Sport
Special Olympics Ontario is pleased to announce the introduction of Floorball as a newly recognized sport!
Learn more by scrolling down!
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Athlete of the Month: Christine Tetley
With nearly a decade of competition under her belt, we’re highlighting Candace Bushie from Peterborough this month! Candace competes in five sports, ranging from floor hockey to swimming, and was a member of...
Click here to read more about Candace's story.
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Community Highlight: Roland Michener Secondary School
We are Roland Michener Secondary School, and we are the Rebels! Located in the northern mining town of South Porcupine, we're part of the city of Timmins, known as “The City with a Heart of Gold.” We've been honoured to represent our northern area in four...
Click here to read more about Roland Michener SS.
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Brantford 2025 - Provincial Summer Games | | |
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COACH APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
We want to encourage all volunteer coaches who accompanied athletes to Provincial Qualifiers this summer to apply to be a District Coach at the upcoming Provincial Summer Games. Be there to support your athletes/team as they step up and compete on the provincial stage. This is an exciting 4 days for our athletes, and you won't want to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of it!
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Our Sport Department is excited to launch the first event of our 2024/2025 Women in Sport Series. After many years hosting a successful Women’s Soccer Day, we have decided to expand the sport offerings to further develop and empower our female athletes!
In partnership with Special Olympics Ontario York South, we are pleased to present Women in Sport – Basketball. This event will be hosted at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Unionville (Markham) on Saturday, October 26th, 2024, from 10am – 3pm. A detailed event schedule will be sent to registered participants closer to the event. Please see the attached poster for more details.
Along with Basketball Skills & Drills, our Health and Promotion team will be on-site with fun giveaways!
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Registered athletes do not need to be currently on a basketball team, if they are interested in trying Basketball with other female athletes, they are welcome! For community participants, all registrants need to be accompanied by registered Special Olympics Ontario volunteers (maintaining ratio), or their parent/guardian. Student athletes are able to attend with an educator or their parent/guardian.
We are planning to host more Women in Sport days across the province, so stay tuned! If your community is interested in hosting, please email Rebecca Norton at rebeccan@specialolympicsontario.com.
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Special Olympics Ontario is pleased to announce the introduction of Floorball as a newly recognized sport. This provides an exciting new avenue for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities to showcase their talents and offers a new path to World Games.
Floorball is a fast-paced, engaging sport that has seen rapid growth across the world. Compared to floor hockey, floorball requires less equipment, which is also more readily available, removing potential barriers to participation. Along with smaller required roster sizes, this flexibility should allow for more community participation.
We've already seen huge success introducing floorball to our Unified Champion Schools programming last year and since floorball is an existing Special Olympics International sport, this development provides athletes a complete Major Games pathway.
More information on how we'll support the introduction of this sport for our communities, including training, funding, and equipment suppliers, will be sent out shortly. In the meantime, please feel free to review the official Floorball Rules and learn more about the sport on our floorball web page.
We're so excited to share more about this new sport over the coming months!
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Health & Research Opportunities | |
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Last week, we observed Concussion Awareness Week and Rowan’s Law Day, underscoring the critical importance of concussion safety in sport. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, volunteer, or parent/guardian, knowing the signs of a concussion and understanding what to do is essential to protecting our athletes.
At Special Olympics Ontario, we are dedicated to fostering a safe sporting environment for everyone. Let’s work together to ensure that safety remains a priority by continuing to educate ourselves about concussion prevention and management.
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Calling all athletes and caregivers: We need your insights! | |
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Join the Our Kids' Health Special Olympics Advisory Board! We need both athletes and caregivers connected with a range of our online communities to help us build a health website. Please see the flyer above for more information.
Contact Manager of Health & Research, Brock Reissner, at brockr@specialolympicsontario.com to join the advisory board today.
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Spotting Phishing Emails: Protect Yourself from Scammers
Recently there’s been an increase in phishing attempts targeting our Special Olympics Ontario community. These scammers often impersonate trusted contacts, like volunteers or staff, asking for sensitive information or money, often in the form of gift cards.
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Stay safe and vigilant by following these simple steps! | |
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How to Spot a
Phishing Email
• Suspicious Sender: Always check the sender’s email address. If it looks off, don’t engage.
• Unusual Content: If the email seems unusual or doesn’t sound like the person it claims to be from, it’s a red flag.
• Urgent Requests: Be cautious of urgent or secretive requests for money or personal information.
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What to do if
You Receive One
• Block the Sender: Block the email address and report it as phishing.
• Stay Alert: Always be cautious, especially when asked to make financial transactions or share personal details.
• Do Not Respond: Never engage with a suspicious email. Instead, verify the request by contacting the person directly using a known, trusted method.
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OCTOBER 20TH
Oakville - 5-Pin
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NOVEMBER 3RD
Welland - 5-Pin
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SOC Competition Coach Course | |
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The SOC Competition Course is designed to prepare coaches 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. This is a required training for volunteers interested in participating in Provincial or National Games.
SOO will be hosting a number of training opportunities this fall. Click a location below to register.
Virtual (Zoom)
October 22, 24 & 29 (three-night event)
Toronto, ON
November 2
Collingwood, ON
November 16
For more information, please contact Jarrod Copland, Manager, Sport & Competition: jarrodc@specialolympicsontario.com
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Even in retirement, our former President and CEO, Glenn MacDonell, continues the mission of Special Olympics, partnering with the Glengarry Memorial Hospital Foundation on the Dwight Golf Tournament. Huge thanks to John Hope and the many volunteers who help to make this event a success! | |
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. | |
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