Portage DD Special Olympics Winter Season Update
Hello,
I hope this finds you well.
As we are all navigating through uncharted times, Portage DD Special Olympics continues to focus on the health and welfare of our athletes, coaches, families, volunteers and communities. Portage DD Special Olympics has made the difficult decision to not have sport specific training for the winter season 20/21. This includes the sports of basketball, cheer and swimming. Powerlifting is a spring sport however, in the past training started in October. This year we will be holding off on starting Powerlifting till 2021. A decision on when practices will begin for Powerlifting and other spring sports will be made in February.
As we understand that this may be an unfavorable decision for some, please know that this decision was not taken lightly and various factors were considered, such as, the uncertainty of the upcoming flu season, increased risks of COVID-19, accessibility to facilities for training, limited number of participants and the cancellation of Regional and State competitions.
Our athletes health continues to be a priority and physical exercise is an important aspect of one’s health. Though we are not having sport specific training, we will be offering other opportunities for physical exercise.
Virtual Events
Portage DD will continue to host Virtual Fitness on Zoom Thursdays at 3:30pm
https://zoom.us/j/95022773131?pwd=aktUSGZpUll2ekdjazVlTVVFN045QT09
Meeting ID: 950 2277 3131
Passcode: 595212
Special Olympics Ohio has partnered with We Thrive Together to offer opportunities for virtual fitness and trainings Monday thru Friday. We Thrive Together also offers a variety of virtual activities ranging from exercise, games and virtual tours providing opportunities to have meaningful day (October calendar)
Special Olympics also offers video exercise options with the Fit5 program https://resources.specialolympics.org/health/fitness/fit-5-page and School of Strength https://www.specialolympics.org/school-of-strength.
In Person Events
Hiking Challenge – currently scheduled through October on Mondays with specific trails. We will continue the hike group after October following COVID-19 safety guidelines. Details on dates and trails will be shared at a later time.
Exercise Class – beginning in November we will hold in person exercise classes at the Family & Community Services building located at 705 Oakwood Street. Masks will be worn and class sizes will be limited to adhere to safe distancing protocols. Registration will be required.
More information about hiking and exercise class will be shared soon.
Fitness Influencer Challenge (thru April 2021)
There is still time for an athlete to sign up and receive incentives for doing the following:
5 days of exercise each week.
examples; practices, skills activities, brain games, walks, Yoga, lifting weights, cardio. These activities must be for at least 20 minutes to be counted for this criteria.
5 fruits and veggies each day.
This is NOT specific to fruits and veggies BUT more as an incentive to eat healthier choices each day/each mean. For example, if an athlete replaces a fast food meal with a salad or a healthier option that can count toward this criteria.
5 bottles of water each day.
This is NOT specific to drinking water. Even though that is the ultimate goal, if an athlete replaces driving soda/pop everyday with Gatorade or in combination with water that can count to this criteria.
Participants can sign up online at https://sooh.org/fitnesschallenge/. See attached Fitness-Packet for more forms and more details.
Be sure to follow the Portage DD Special Olympics Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PortageSpecialOlympics to see what our delegation has going on!
I have included a lot of information. Please feel free to contact me, see email address below, at any time with any questions you may have. Thank you for your understanding.
Stay healthy and well!
Sincerely,
Colleen
Email: ColleenB@PortageDD.org