FALL

C.A.S.O Newsletter

Gloucester based program, Cape Ann Special Olympics, providing athletic opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Our goal is to provide year- round sports training and athletic competition at no cost to the individuals. At the present time our program is offering soccer in the fall, basketball and bowling in the winter, aquatics and track and field in the spring, and bocce and softball in the summer. With program growth we hope to offer several other sports including golf, cycling, floor hockey, and flag football.

Fundraising

Special Olympics Massachusetts is a year round sports training and competition non-profit organization with 501(c)3 status.

We will accept financial contributions, checks can be made payable to Special Olympics Massachusetts with

NEW ATHLETES

Any individuals with intellectual disabilities interested in participating are welcome to join us. There is no age limit for athletes at Special Olympics.Children may begin practicing and competing with a local program at age 6, and can begin attending state level competitions at age 8. Children between the ages of 2 and 7 can participate in the Young Athletes program, which prepares them for future participation in Special Olympics. New athletes to our program please go online and fill out the Athlete application:http://

http://www.specialolympicsma.org/assets/Application-for-Participation.pdf

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Cape Ann special Olympics is always looking for Volunteers! Anyone can be a volunteer, you don’t have to be skilled in the sport you just have to want to make a difference. Volunteers are the backbone of the Special Olympics movement. They are coaches,unified Partners and more. We are currently seeking volunteers to be unified partners for soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, track in the spring, and softball in the summer: Special Olympics Unified Sports® brings together athletes with intellectual disabilities and athletes without intellectual disabilities to train and compete on the same team. Volunteers improve their physical fitness, sharpen their skills, and learn acceptance and inclusion while participating in Unified Sports.

AQUATICS

AT THIS TIME OUR AQUATICS PROGRAM AT CAPE ANN YMCA (71 MIDDLE ST. GLOUCESTER, MA 01930) HAS OPENINGS FOR NEW ATHLETES.SWIMMING IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SPORTS IN WORLD. UNLIKE OTHER SPORTS, SWIMMING IS A LIFE SKILL THAT IS TAUGHT, FIRST, TO ENSURE SAFETY AND, SECONDLY, FOR SPORTS AND COMPETITION PURPOSES. AQUATICS COVERS A GREAT VARIETY OF SWIMMING SKILLS, FROM SHORT SPRINTS TO LONGER EVENTS AND RELAYS. CAPE ANN SPECIAL OLYMPICS WILL BE HOSTING A SKILLS EVALUATION NIGHT ON OCTOBER 3 AT 7PM ON THE POOL DECK OF THE CAPE ANN YMCA FOR ALL ATHLETES INTERESTED IN

SWIMMING

SOCCER ⚽

At GHS Saturday morning 10-11:30am September 7- November 3

With tentative qualifiers on October Sunday 10/6/19

State Cup Sunday 11/3/19

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Program Coordinator: Shawn Williamson (978)-902-6290 Williamsonshawn@yahoo.com Administration Chair: Kathy Verga (508)-265-8816

Fundraising, Finance, Volunteer, and Publicity Chairs:

NicoleTucker coliecatherine@yahoo.com

Maureen Colby mcolby4@gmail.com