Southland Hug a Rig Day
Lower South Island RSC, Chris flew the Special Olympics flag at the Southland Hug a Rig Day in Waimumu. The day provided the opportunity for Special Olympics athletes to have a ride in trucks, hot rods and tractors as well as building connections across the community
Central Otago Adaptive Sport Day
On Wednesday 14 August, Chris ran a Central Otago Adaptive Sports Day in association with the Otago Secondary School Sports Association. The event was a fantastic opportunity for the athletes in attendance to take part in some athletics and competitive T-Ball.
Canterbury Secondary Schools Boccia Championships
The Canterbury Secondary Schools Boccia Championships were also held on August 14. The event featured an Open Category for students who’s primary impairment is intellectual and was supported by Upper North Island RSC Paula.
Unitec Student Volunteer Expo
In late August Upper North Island RSC Andy attended The Unitec Volunteer Expo. This event is designed to connect organisations looking for volunteers, and Unitec students who are seeking opportunities to gain valuable skills and experience while making a difference to their community. He spoke with a large number of enthusiastic young people who have made planes to attend local events and volunteer their time.
School Basketball Events
It’s been a massive couple of months for inclusive Basketball with 10 Secondary School Basketball events taking place across Aotearoa in August and September.
Stretching from Whangārei to Westland, these events saw over 600 children with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to develop and show off their skills in fun, supportive and competitive environments.
NZ Cricket Disability Workshop Panel
Athlete Leaders Grace Payne and Sarah Dalton represented Special Olympics on NZ Cricket’s Disability Workshop Panel in late August.
The workshop focused on upskilling and informing NZC and their regional organisations on the inclusion of disabled people in mainstream sport. 
Grace and Sarah were once again excellent ambassadors, sharing the message of the power of inclusive sport.
Parkside School Transition Expo
Also, in September – Andy attended the Parkside school Transition Expo in Pukekohe along with a Group of Athlete leaders from the Counties SO Club. The concept for this event was to have a great selection of providers in one area that Parkside families can go around and talk to everyone. This was to help build connections between families and transition providers as well as find out information about possible programs for their kids to join once they finish school. While several attendees were already engaged in Special Olympics sports it was an invaluable opportunity to work along the Athlete leaders and promote the variety of sports available to wider whanau groups.
Inclusion Horizons: Enhancing Physical Education For All
Young Athletes Lead, Rachel recently presented to Healthy Active Learning Leads in Taranaki, as part of the Inclusion Horizons: Enhancing physical education day hosted by Sport Taranaki.
This presentation, the first of its kind, focused on upskilling primary school teachers to create and deliver meaningful physical activity opportunities for children with an intellectual disability and Rachel is looking forward to sharing these concepts with other groups across Aotearoa.
Wellington Pickleball Have a Go Day
On the 17th of September, 11 Schools from greater Wellington converged on Wellington North Badminton and Hutt Valley Badminton for some Pickleball!
Approximately 110 students got to experience what one of the fastest growing sports in the world is all about. While the weather outside was at its worst and we had to dodge the odd leak, all students seemed to enjoy the tennis, badminton and table tennis hybrid sport.
What’s Outside The Box? Expo
Special Olympics NZ also recently attended the What’s Outside the Box? Expo, held at the Lower Hutt Town Hall. What’s Outside the Box? is a transition expo for students with an intellectual disability who have recently left or are about to leave high school. We had a stall where we shared information with would-be athletes, parents, and support workers about what Special Olympics offers in both the school and club spaces. We walked away with a ton of new contacts/leads to follow up and had a great time networking with other organisations in the disability support space. Thank you to the organisers for a great day out!
Hawke’s Bay Secondary School Football Event
On Tuesday 24 September five schools took part in a Secondary School indoor football tournament at Rodney Green Arena in Napier.
It was an awesome day with a great spirit between everyone involved, plenty of passion and determination on display and no shortage of enthusiastic goal celebrations.
A huge thank you to all the schools who took part for all their support in making the day such a wonderful celebration of the power of inclusive sport and to our volunteer referees from Napier Girls’ High School.
