Further Volunteering Opportunities
We are currently looking for volunteers across all of Munster to become mentors for our ALPs programme. The Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Programme (ALPs), offers current and former athletes who are over 16 a chance to explore opportunities additional to sports training and competition. Supported by a mentor, athletes take part in workshops and training programmes in areas such as public speaking and presentation skills, volunteering, coaching and governance. To learn more about the ALPs programme and what is involved in becoming a mentor see the ALPs dedicated section of the website or ring Eilish Harrington, RDO Munster, 021-4977192 or email eilish.harrington@specialolympics.ie
A major part of Special Olympics is family support and involvement. The Munster Families Programme is looking for interested volunteers and family members to join our regional families committee. If you would like more information or are interested in getting involved please see our families’ section of the webpage or phone Eilish Harrington, RDO Munster, 021-4977192 or email eilish.harrington@specialolympics.ie.
It is our aim to have a team of volunteers in place to help deliver training and competition in each sports programme. These teams will be made up of people with any of the following skills: coaching qualifications, sports officials, administration skills, or just someone with an interest in sport. So, regardless of whether you can give one hour a week or one day a year, we still want to hear from you! If you think you would like to get involved, please be sure to give Shaun a call on 021 4977192 or email shaun.hennessy@specialolympics.ie
For every Special Olympics event, a competition manager works closely with staff in the Munster Office to ensure that all the sports aspects of the event are planned and delivered to an agreed standard. Presently our pool of Competition Managers is quite small, and we would like to recruit a few new people to help out.
Working side by side with the RDO – Sport (Shaun or Elaine), the competition manager will ensure entries are circulated on time, then processed, divisioned and a schedule of events is set up for the day. They may also help in the recruitment and training of officials, and the sourcing of equipment as necessary. On the day of the event, they will oversee all competition aspects of the event, ensuring that: the field of play is set up properly; events run on time, rules are applied fairly and consistently, any protests are dealt with appropriately; and results are processed.
Training and support will be provided to any new competition manager, and they will only be asked to do as much or as little as they are comfortable with!
If you would like to find out more about this role, or to attend training, please contact Shaun on 021 4977192 or email shaun.hennessy@specialolympics.ie .
The Games Management System (GMS) is a software package used to manage all our competitions. It is used to process entries, division athletes, produce a programme of events, and calculate results.
Presently we have a number of volunteers who are trained to operate this system, but it would be great to add to this team, thus reducing the pressure on a small group of people to attend every event.
So, if you like working with computers, and would like to learn how to operate a new piece of software, then this could be ideal for you. Initial training will be provided, and you will then be supported as you familiarise yourself with the system. The only commitment we ask is that you attend a 2 hour training session and then help us out with one event in the year ahead.
To find out more, or to express an interest in getting involved, please contact Shaun or Elaine on 021 4977192 or email shaun.hennessy@specialolympics.ie .