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We have introduced a Special Olympics/Unified Sport speed skating relay to the club's programs. We held a first training camp in April 2021, and hosted two events in the 2021-2022 season. The first event of the 2022-2023 season was held on September 17, 2022 with participation by Valerie Maltais and Jordan Belchos of the Speed Skating Canada National Team. The most recent event was held on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
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This is the description of Unified Sports from the Special Olympics Canada website:
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Special Olympics Unified Sports® is a model that promotes social inclusion. Unified Sports integrates individuals with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) on teams for sport training and competition to promote social engagement and development. Unified Sports include approximately equal numbers of Special Olympics athletes and partners without an ID of similar ages and abilities on the playing field for both individual and team sports. All athletes and partners are recognized as equal contributors and as such develop a sense of belonging, learn to interact meaningfully with others, and forge lasting and mutually rewarding relationships beyond the playing field.
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The Unified Sports speed skating relay consists of teams of four skaters, two Special Olympics athletes, and two Unified Sports Partners. Two teams are on the ice at one time. As this is a new program, the first event of the 2021-2022 season focused mainly on training. The event on April 9, 2022 started with a training session, and then included 2-person relay races.
All members of the club are eligible to participate as either a Special Olympics athlete, or a Unified Sport Partner or volunteer. Special Olympics athletes can also invite a friend or family member to participate as a member of their team, and Special Olympics athletes and Unified Sport partners from other speed skating clubs and provinces are also invited to participate. Speed skates are not mandatory, participants can use whatever skates they are comfortable with. Newer participants use a hand tag for the relay, more experienced participants are learning the relay push.
If you have any questions, please contact Sheila McGinn at info@dcspeedskate.ca or 902-443-8781.
To learn more about the Unified Sport program in Nova Scotia, see the video at this link.
All members of the club are eligible to participate as either a Special Olympics athlete, or a Unified Sport Partner or volunteer. Special Olympics athletes can also invite a friend or family member to participate as a member of their team, and Special Olympics athletes and Unified Sport partners from other speed skating clubs and provinces are also invited to participate. Speed skates are not mandatory, participants can use whatever skates they are comfortable with. Newer participants use a hand tag for the relay, more experienced participants are learning the relay push.
If you have any questions, please contact Sheila McGinn at info@dcspeedskate.ca or 902-443-8781.
To learn more about the Unified Sport program in Nova Scotia, see the video at this link.
Many thanks to Truefaux Films Inc. for the gift of this video of our Special Olympics / Unified Sport program in action!
Pictures from September 2022 Unified Sport Event
with Speed Skating Canada national team athletes
Valérie Maltais and Jordan Belchos
during Medals on Tour event.
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Pictures from our April 2022 Unified Sport Event
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We are pleased to work in partnership with Special Olympics Nova Scotia to offer Special Olympics speed skating programming to skaters of all ages and abilities.
For more information about Special Olympics in Nova Scotia, please contact:
Matt Quinn Director of Sport & Programs Special Olympics Nova Scotia E-mail mquinn@specialolympicsns.ca Tel: (902) 429-2266 Ext. 2 |
