Local community supporters in 50 communities across the province, are commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Special Olympics movement.
The Chatham-Kent Police Service is one of those communities that is raising awareness of the celebration, and in support of high school athletes from across the province who are 50 days away from competing at the inaugural 2019 Special Olympics Ontario Invitational Youth Games (IYG).
Together with other longstanding supporters such as the Knights of Columbus, communities are hosting a flag raising ceremony, raising awareness of the movement and supporting the Draft an Athlete campaign to help successfully draft Ontario athletes who will be competing on the world stage May 14-17 in Toronto.
Schools from around the province have already qualified for the Games, with over 100 teams from Ontario alone and more to qualify in the coming weeks. These athletes are looking forward to competing against their peers from Ontario, Canada, and the world.
The provincial goal across all 50 celebrating communities is to raise $50,000 to go towards the Draft an Athlete campaign.
The IYG are among several events marking the 50th Anniversary of Special Olympics worldwide. These games will break new ground, hosting athletes with and without intellectual disabilities who will compete against and alongside each other.
Qualifying is actively underway and will continue through to April in time for the games. Campaign organizers estimate the final draft will include over 200 teams and 300 individual athletes including from across Canada, US and Internationally.
All sports will offer two types of team divisions: a traditional division (in which all athletes on the team have an intellectual disability), and a Unified division (in which athletes with and without an intellectual disability will have the opportunity to compete on the same team).
Here, in Chatham-Kent the flag raising ceremony will be held on Monday, March 25, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. at the Civic Centre in Chatham.
All are welcome to attend.
