Sport is for everyone and that's why we want to put the call out for Young Athletes with Special Olympics Ireland to make sure boys and girls with an intellectual disability can play too!
They support almost 8,000 athletes through a network of 294 community based clubs across the island of Ireland and they want more members!
The Special Olympics Young Athletes Programme
The Young Athletes programme is a play and sport activity for children from four to 12 years with an intellectual disability. It introduces children to a wide variety of play activities in a familiar, supportive and fun environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
Young Athletes provides a flexible framework and versatile programme which can be successfully offered in a variety of settings from individual family home, to classrooms to community club settings. The programme is designed as an introduction to fundamental movement skills.
Benefits of the Young Athletes Programme are:
1. It helps children interact with each other and develop communication, learning and self-help skills.
2. Introduces children to the Special Olympics programme and their family members to a network of support.
3. Prepares children for future membership into Special Olympics clubs allowing them to develop healthy lifelong positive habits around sport and physical activity.
Download this Family Flashback LOADED with fun activities!
About Special Olympics Ireland
Special Olympics Ireland is sports organisation for people with an intellectual disability from the age of 4 years old with no upper age limit.
Through our sports, health and leadership programmes our athletes learn to be physically, mentally and emotionally fit. They get to learn new skills, increase confidence and most importantly they get to experience the joy of sport and make life-long friendships.
In response to COVID-19, Special Olympics launched a Together at Home Programme aimed at supporting athletes in their homes during one of the most challenging times of their lives.
You can find out more about the Together at Home programme here: http://www.specialolympics.ie
