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Lucas County Little Lightning Newsletter
Winter 2024
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Can you believe it is fall already? Along with the changing leaves and cooler temps comes sign-ups for winter sports! We ask that you use the link provided later in this newsletter to sign-up.
INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Sports offered during the winter season include Basketball, Swim and Competitive Cheer and Pep Squad. All of these, except for Pep, practice to compete at Regional and State competitions (Competitive Cheer Team has no Regional event and automatically advances to state).
Feel free to register your youth in more than one winter sport if they wish. They can do cheer and swim or basketball and swim (basketball and cheer practice times conflict so they cannot do both of them). Regional competitions are sport specific, meaning they are held at different dates/locations and will not conflict with each other so they can do both. However, if they qualify for state competition in more than one event, they are only permitted to participate in one sport. This means they will not be able to swim in the state meet, and will need to choose their team sport of Cheer or Basketball (if you have questions about this, please contact Sherrie).
Also this year, State Indoor Winter Games will be held on March 7th - 9th, at Ohio State, not BGSU, like the past few years. More details will follow as we get closer.
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Winter Special Olympics Program | | |
This winter we are offering Swimming, Basketball, and Pep Squad/Cheer Team. Please make sure you read the information for each sport before registering. | |
To safely participate in Lucas County SO swim program, athletes need to be able to swim 25 meters (typically one length of the pool) by themselves without touching the bottom of the pool, grabbing the side, or using a float.
Swim practice will be held weekly, with the adult swimmers, on Sundays from 11-12 at St. Francis High School pool, at 2323 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, beginning October 27th. The Regional meet is scheduled for Sunday, 1/19/2025 at Oak Harbor High School. There is no practice over the holiday break in December.
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Come join our basketball team as we look to improve upon our silver medal performance at last year's state tournament! This year practices will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 - 7:30 pm at Arlington Elementary, 707 Woodsdale Ave, Toledo, beginning in November (we will let you know our start date once we have confirmed this with the school). The Regional Tournament will be held at Van Buren High/Middle schools February 1-2, 2025. We will need to win at Regionals to advance to state.
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Pep Squad/Competitive Cheer | |
If you have spirit, then you may want to become a part of our Lucas County Lightning Pep Squad! You have two options to participate. First, you can join the Pep Squad that after a few practices, just cheers at home adult SO basketball games throughout the season. The other option is the Competitive Cheer Team which will perform at a few games (probably at half time at a few games during the season) and competes at the State Winter games in March. Due to more people wanting to join cheer, this year you can only choose one cheer option, Pep Squad or Competitive Cheer.
1. Pep Squad – will only cheer at home basketball games. **Please note that due to the growing popularity of this sport, we may also have to limit how many athletes will cheer at home games because of the small space we have during games.
2.Competitive Cheer – you will need to attend weekly practices on Tuesdays, from 6:30 – 7:30pm at Horizon Science Academy on Reynolds Rd. We are also limiting the team size this year. So, once registration is completed, we will let you know if it is necessary to conduct an evaluation day and when practices will begin.
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**Winter Sports Registration Information** | | |
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The online registration form for winter sports is found by clicking here.
The registration page for our winter sports is open now until October 23. You must register during this time to play a winter sport!
To participate as a Little Lighting in a sport, you must be at least age 8 up to 21, reside in Lucas County, have a qualifying diagnosis and have a current Special Olympics medical form on file with our office.
Click here to download the New Athlete Packet for Special Olympics (Skip this if you are already registered with Lucas County Special Olympics)
Please return your completed forms by either:
-email to littlelightning@lucasdd.org
-conventional mail to:
Lucas County Special Olympics
Attn: R Carter
1154 Larc Lane
Toledo, Ohio 43614
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Important information! Please read:
ATTENDANCE: Our Lucas County teams, including the Littles, take attendance at practice and games. The expectation is athletes attend all games and practices. However, we realize things happen and they may miss. If this is the case, please let the staff person assigned to the sport know via email or Team Reach, prior to the scheduled start time and earlier if it is a game. Please note that low attendance could impact the amount of playing time or whether they are able to compete with the team. This is part of the State of Ohio's Code of Conduct policy for athletes.
SUPERVISION: Please note that Special Olympics staff and coaches do not provide direct supervision to athletes. Please make appropriate arrangements if supervision is necessary.
**Anyone who has questions regarding our Lucas County Special Olympics program, please contact us at littlelightning@lucasdd.org or at 419-380-5437 and talk directly to Special Olympics staff. Programming, practice (including cancellations/scheduling), and competition decisions are all made by the Special Olympics staff, not volunteer coaches. If you have any questions about this, please email Sherrie Hathaway at shathaway@lucasdd.org or call 419-380-4021.
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2024 Fall State Competition | | |
Individual Softball Skills | Fourteen athletes represented Lucas County in the skills division of the 2024 state softball tournament that was held on Saturday, September 7 in Oregon, Ohio. All these athletes worked hard this season to learn and improve their skills on the softball field. The hard work paid off check out all these medals!! Great job everyone!! | | |
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Lucas DD Trunk or Treat on Oct. 15
Get your costume ready for Lucas DD's Trunk or Treat! This is a free community event; all abilities are welcome! No registration required. We will see you on our campus at 5:30 p.m. on October 15.
Wealth & Wisdom Oct. 16
You can attend this session on October 16 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in person or virtually. Free meal offered if you register to attend in-person. 5:30 is the meal, followed by the session starting at approximately 6. October's topic is Money Mapping: A New Way to Budget. The session will include identifying needs v. wants, understanding income v. expenses, understanding negative and positive cash flow, and creating a personal Money Map. Special guests from 5/3 Bank will be presenting along with County Board staff.
Family Ties Oct. 17
Lucas DD has a new Parent Connection Group in 2024 called Family Ties! The mission of this group is to help families make connections and build a network that they can lean on for support. The next meeting is 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Oct. 17. Light snacks will be served. Margaret Zotkiewicz will be available if you'd like to ask any questions about SSI. We hope to see you there! Please email familyties@lucasdd.org if you have questions, or if you need to bring your child(ren) with you.
State Flag Football Competition
The State Flag Football Competition will take place in Geneva, Ohio on October 19-20. Contact Kelley Watson for details.
Check out some Halloween Happenings in our area this month! For additional events, please check out our online calendar by clicking here. To receive information about news and events in your inbox, click here and add your email.
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Comments or questions?
Please feel free to email Sherrie at shathaway@lucasdd.org or call 419-380-4021 if you have any questions and/or suggestions regarding this newsletter or anything else.
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