Special Olympics Edmonton is working hard on our Return to Play (RTP) plans! Due to the current spike in cases, we will postponing all program starts until at least January 11, 2021. Creating these plans is a slow and difficult process as we need to be extremely diligent as individuals with intellectual disabilities have a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 and the health of our athletes and members is of utmost importance. Although we are aiming to start at the end of November, we will continue to monitor the situation in tandem with Special Olympics Alberta and work with our key partners and local health authorities to determine the safety of returning to and resuming programs. Protection of our athletes, volunteers, staff and families is our number one priority.
For more information on Return to Play, and to read our provincial guidelines, click HERE
If you are interested in registering for our programs this fall, please click HERE
You can find more information regarding COVID-19 and how to protect yourself here or on the Alberta Health Services Website here.\
Effective immediately, all in-person programs are suspended until January 11, 2021.
The decision to suspend programs was made because of the escalating number of cases in our province. This decision is not a reflection of the outstanding work and diligence of our programs who successfully returned to sport. I want to sincerely thank the leadership volunteers from these affiliates and community programs who followed protocols meticulously and ensured there was no COVID spread among our Special Olympics athletes and volunteers. We have to act now to do our part to ensure the safety of our members and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within our communities.
Our approach throughout the pandemic was to be the organization that gets criticized because we were too conservative, not the one that opened too fast or didn’t pause fast enough if cases escalated. The current environment is extremely concerning and we will take an abundance of caution around protecting the health of our athletes and volunteers.
We acknowledge that social distancing is very difficult for many, especially our athletes who struggle with not being able to meet with their friends and the volunteers who they have a close bond with. In the lead up to the Holiday Season we are going to be launching several new virtual social initiatives to connect our members and have some much needed fun. We will also encourage athletes to sign up for the final weeks of PEAK and get ready for info on the Winter 2021 edition.
Visit here for more info: https://www1.specialolympics.ab.ca/get…/peak-program/
Another great source of information is the Healthy at Home newsletter which can be signed up for here: https://mailchi.mp/specialolympics.ab.ca/healthyathome
As dark as it seems now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It will take time and patience, but we will get through this together.
Please stay safe everyone.