Announcements
RETURN TO ACTIVITIES
STARTING TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 AT LION’S PARK AT 6:30 PM TO 7:30 PM
Greetings Grand Forks Special Olympics ND Athletes, Volunteers & Parent/Guardians!! Can you believe that it’s been over 5 months since we’ve had our Special Olympics sports! We sure miss seeing our Special Olympics athletes and families and hope that everyone is healthy.
SOND just moved into what is called their ORANGE (Phase 1) level. Your Area 5 Management Team met recently to discuss what this will look like for our Grand Forks athletes and have been tasked with coordinating and rolling it out in September. To be in accordance with this phase, things will obviously be different. It will be more of an exercise/activity versus a typical practice that we are all used to.
· Athletes will be assigned to a pod that will have no more than 10 persons (including coach and volunteer). This pod will remain the same for the entirety of the evening and all scheduled evenings. There will be no intermixing or congregating of athletes outside of their pod (before, during or after practice).
· Direct or indirect contact will NOT be allowed during, before or after activities and all must maintain physical distancing.
· Everyone is required to wear a mask at all times, except during exercise. Masks will NOT be provided, so you must bring your own. Please bring a labeled plastic bag so during exercise you can place your mask in it to keep it safe. NO GATORS allowed, these are face coverings that goes around the neck and they pull up over their face, they are not effective.
· Everyone will be screened upon arrival.
· Everyone must bring their own labeled water bottle and hand sanitizer. NO SHARING!!
*Please note that there will be NO state soccer/bocce or bowling tournaments in 2020.
ATHLETE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Must have an up to date physical on file prior to the first evening of practice – if you do not, you WILL NOT be allowed to participate. Remember the physical includes health history forms, physical exam form, athlete application form and athlete consent form. (A total of 5 pages.)
2. You must supply your own mask and you must wear your mask at all times except during exercise. Please bring a labeled plastic bag so during exercise you can place your mask in it to keep it safe.
3. You must bring your own water bottle and make sure that it is labeled, so we know it is yours.
4. Complete a COVID 19 Advance Screening form. Everyone will be screened upon arrival for each activity session or you can bring a completed COVID 19 Advance Screening form.
5. You must fill out and sign a Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form. This form can be found on specialolympicsnd.org or specialolympicsnorthdakota.orgorg web site or we will have some at our first gathering.
COACH/VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
1. You must have all paper work up to date! These forms and quizzes can be found on specialolympicsnorthdakota.org web site.
a. application form (every 3 years)
b. protective behaviors (every 3 years)
c. general orientation (every 3 years)
d. coaches code of conduct (each sport)
e. concussion training (once)
f. Covid 19 training (once)
g. Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form (new this year and once)
h. Complete a COVID 19 Advance Screening form. Everyone will be screened before each practice or you can bring a completed COVID 19 Advance Screening form
2. You must provide your own mask and wear your mask at all times.
3. You must bring your own labeled water bottle
ALL PARTICIPANTS:
1. Must complete the Participant Code of Conduct and Risk Assessment Form
2. Must complete a Complete a COVID 19 Advance Screening form
3. Will be screened at the beginning of each activity event
PARENTS/GUARDIANS/RIDES
1. Spectators will NOT be allowed.
2. If you stay to wait for your athlete, we encourage you to wait in your car.
3. If you do watch, you must stay by the side walk and make sure that you physical distance from each other.
4. If you drop your athlete off and plan to leave, make sure we have good contact information in case we need to reach you for some reason.
Our greatest concern is for the health and safety of all of our athletes and coaches!! This a start back to Special Olympics but you must remember that this could all change in a day or week or month, depending on the COVID 19 cases.
If you or someone you have close contact with tests positive for the virus, you need to let us know ASAP so we can take the necessary precautions for the safety of all of our athletes and coaches. Know that you will be screened each and every gathering and when you are assigned to a group, that will be your group for the rest of our gatherings. PLEASE stay healthy!!
At this point, we do not know what bowling will look like or if we will even have that season. We are working on a way to conduct our Sponsor an Athlete fundraiser but so far we have nothing figured out.
We are excited to see you! Meredith, Tim and your Area Management Team
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CHANGES
ATHLETE PHYSICALS - All athlete physicals are now due at the time of the first practice. If it is not up to date, the athlete CANNOT participate in the practice until the physical is up to date. This has always been in effect with Special Olympics North Dakota and it will no longer be acceptable for us to allow athletes to practice without all the forms and physical completed.
5 pages in total – all of them make up the required form.
1. Page 1 – Athlete Registration Form
2. Pages 2 and 3 – Athlete Health History
3. Page 4 – Physician medical form signed by Physician
4. Page 5 – Athlete Consent Form
We will continue to notify you ahead of the due date, often sending them to you with the newsletter or at the end of sports season.
All forms together make up a completed physical and they are good for 3 years. If you turn in a physical form every year, all forms need to be done to keep the physical complete and up to date!!
NEW VOLUNTEERS – New volunteers must complete the application form BEFORE they can volunteer. A background check is completed by SOND promptly.
The new volunteer must go on line and view/complete:
1. Volunteer Application Form
2. General Orientation Quiz
3. Protective Behaviors Video and Quiz.
4. COACHES
A. View and complete concussion training.
B. We strongly encourage completing the course on Coaching Unified Sports
All videos, quizzes, and courses are linked on our web site: www.specialolympicsgf.org or the state web site: www.specialolympicsnorthdakota.org
Message from the Area Director:I would personally like to thank you for your interest Special Olympics Grand Forks (Area 5). Our goal is to provide an atmosphere where everyone can have fun and learn the valuable lessons that sports can teach, giving continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. The very fact you are out trying makes you a champion. The Special Olympics oath is “Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt.” Any athlete can excel to a higher level if they are willing to give it their best effort. Families play an important role in the success in the Special Olympics Grand Forks program. It is critical for you to contribute to a positive, supportive environment in as your family member participates in Special Olympics. From there, family involvement can be as little or as much as you wish. Some family members choose to cheer on their team as a fan, which is the norm for many new families. Some parents choose to get more involved by: coaching, helping with fundraising, chaperoning, or more. If you are interested in becoming more involved, please talk to myself to see what might interest you. Special Olympics Grand Forks offers many different sports throughout the year. We compete through Special Olympics North Dakota (SOND). SOND offers five sports seasons. Special Olympics athletes may choose one sport to participate, or compete in all five seasons. While Special Olympics Grand Forks would love to see each athlete participate in all five seasons, it is not required. Athletes have the opportunity to choose which seasons fit them best. I welcome you to Special Olympics Grand Forks (Area 5) and look forward to getting to know you and your family. Please click through our webpages for additional information that I hope you find useful to learn more about our program. Meredith Baumann |
