The Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre was full of enthusiastic high school students on Feb. 12 who were ready to compete in this year’s Four Corners soccer provincial qualifier – a program run by Special Olympics Ontario.
This is the first year the soccer competition has been held in Marden and the 15 teams from eight schools in Guelph, Waterloo and Orangeville had a full day of soccer.
“Students that have special needs, are in special education classrooms, they don’t get the opportunity to compete on behalf of their school for their school team like all of their mainstream peers do,” said Kirsten Bobbie, program developer for secondary schools and competitions for Special Olympics Ontario.
“So (with) competitions like this, they get to throw on their school jersey, feel a part of the team and then, as well, reap all of the benefits of team Sports that mainstream students have the opportunity to do all the time.”
There are 15 regions throughout Ontario that participate in the program and one team from each region is guaranteed a spot in the Special Olympics Four Corners Provincial Championship in Oshawa in May, Bobbie said.
“The way it works at Special Olympics is we division all of our teams prior to competition so teachers have to fill out a ranking test and system before they come,” she explained. “They only play against teams of similar ability levels and similar ranks so all of the games would be nice and close and all the students would still have a great time no matter their ability level.”
There is a points-based system to decide the regional winner rather than a championship game. The team that wins for the region may not be the highest skilled group of players but it will have the most wins against teams of a similar skill level.
“We allow each school to bring up to three teams just so that no one’s left behind in the classroom and then what most teachers do is they group their students based on their ability level …” Bobbie said.
With 15 regions but 20 spots available in the provincial championship, there are five wildcard teams chosen based on their performance during regionals, Bobbie said.
Wellington OPP officers greeted students as they entered the Marden facility and gave high-fives to anyone who wanted one at the conclusion of the opening ceremony. Special Olympics Ontario is the charity of choice for all police in Ontario.
