Who We Are
Who is Special Olympics Otago?
Special Olympics New Zealand was founded in 1983. It is a registered Charitable Trust and provides a year-round programme of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Currently over 7000 Special Olympics athletes are training and competing throughout New Zealand. Each year our organisation runs over 200 events in more than 40 towns and cities around the country. Athletes have the opportunity to compete at a number of different levels – from local, regional, national and international competitions – each with their own training and qualifying requirements. Through sport, athletes learn important skills that they can use in other parts of their life – like team work and socialising as well as improved health and fitness and maintenance of mobility.
Special Olympics Clubs
Through an affiliation process, Special Olympics Clubs are tasked with delivering programmes at community level. These programmes are led by volunteers and supported by Regional Sports Coordinators. Clubs are open to anyone with an intellectual disability. Club programmes are the mainstay of Special Olympics New Zealand. There are currently 44 active Clubs in the organisation’s seven regions, each maintaining the structure mandated by the rules of Special Olympics.
Athletes aged 8 and older can join a Special Olympics Club. Younger athletes can train with a Club, but they can not participate in competition. There is no upper age limit for members of a Club.
Secondary School-aged athletes can join both a Club and participate in the School Programme.
The kind of sports offered by Clubs depends on the athletes and volunteers involved. Some Clubs specialise in one or two sports and others offer a range of sports.
Get Involved
Want to be an Athlete?
If you want to become an athlete Special Olympics Otago is a great way to get fit, have fun and meet new people.
Anyone with an intellectual disabilities aged 8 or over can train to be a Special Olympics Athlete.
Sport is the core of Special Olympics, but you don’t need to be a super star to be part of the fun. Special Olympics is designed so that every athlete can participate – no matter what your age, interest or skill level!
If you wish to join a sport, please click the button below.
Become a volunteer
If you like sport and want to make a difference in your community become a volunteer. It does not matter whether you can only spare a few hours or more. Special Olympics Otago welcomes you.
All of our programmes rely on Volunteers, without Volunteers Special Olympics Otago would not be able to provide the opportunities we do for our athletes.
Volunteering for Special Olympics is a lot of fun. Not only can you make friends and give coaching and other roles a go, but you can also get the opportunity to travel around NZ for competitions!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Special Olympics Otago by clicking the button below. We would love to hear from you!
Become a coach
Special Olympics Otago not only rely on volunteers but we also need coaches to guide our athletes in their sport. A coach is an essential part of any team sport, not only in mainstream but also in Special Olympics. We are currently needing coaches in Powerlifting and Golf.
To find out how you can become a coach and help us out click the button below!
Make a donation.
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