We are introducing a Special Olympics/Unified Sport speed skating relay to the club's programs.  We held a first training camp in April 2021, and will be hosting two events in the 2021-2022 season.  The first event will take place on Saturday, December 11,2021 from 12:30 to 3:00 PM in Arena D at the RBC Centre on Commodore Drive in Dartmouth, and the second event will be scheduled in the winter or early spring.

This is the description of Unified Sports from the Special Olympics Canada website:
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 includes 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.

Special Olympics Unified Sports in Canada does not include a competitive pathway to National or World Games.
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 this season will focus mainly on training, with some fun races scheduled if time permits.

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.

The event on December 11th will be led by our Head Coach, Todd Landon.  Registration for this event is available at this link.

If you have any questions, please contact Sheila McGinn at sm23@eastlink.ca or 902-443-8781.
Many thanks to Truefaux Films Inc. for the gift of this video of our Special Olympics program in action!

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