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Kicking: Place a ball on the ground and have the child stand behind it. Have the child kick the ball toward you with his/her preferred foot. [Play video] |
Special Olympics South Africa last week became the first Program in the Africa region to begin implementing the Young Athletes initiative after requests by family members to involve their children in the program were answered. Young Athletes™ is an innovative sports play program for children with intellectual disabilities, designed to introduce them to the world of sports prior to Special Olympics eligibility at age 8.
More than 35 coaches gathered at the inaugural training day along with 20 young athletes. The group of parents, therapists, sports coaches and caregivers were clearly excited at the prospect of having their young athletes join the movement. Family member and program initiator Gina Philips commented at the training, “It's a relief to have this program starting in KwaZulu Natal. The need has always been there and now we're finally able to give parents hope and show them that their athletes have a home in Special Olympics.
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Young athlete learning to run through an obstacle course; seen here jumping over a dowel. |
Trainees put the young athletes through their paces with a variety of activities, encouraging them and cheering them on as they showed off their skills. The supply of starter kits provided the athletes with an array of brightly colored equipment to test out their talents with and put the activity guide into practice.
Although still in its infancy, it is expected that the Young Athletes implementation will soon spread to other provinces in South Africa and that many of the established Programs in Africa will follow suit as word spreads.
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Balance Beam: Follow a straight path, walking along a rope or balance beam. Progress to straddling the rope or beam while walking, then walk on top of the rope or beam. [Play video] |
Obstacle Course: Set up cones, markers, hoops, etc., and encourage the child to walk, crawl, climb, jump or run through/around a series of obstacles. Begin with a straight course with similar activities at each “station” and progress to including a variety of tasks, zig-zags, reversals, etc. [Play video]
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