Our Special Olympics Speed Skating Program

Since 2014, we have provided Speed Skating lessons to Special Olympians. That year, June Lum joined with her son, one of our first SO members. June has been our Liaison Officer with Special Olympics British Columbia (SOBC) ever since.
Interested? Then ...
Why Special Olympians?
Speed skating is a unique sport in that it focusses largely on self-improvement. That is, success is gauged largely by improvements in technique and racing strategies, and less-so on the actual outcome of any competition relative to other skaters or teams. Thus, the athlete can focus on achieving “personal bests”, and clearly measure their improvement in technique and fitness.

Coaches, fellow non-SO athletes, and parents acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and personal bests of our SO athletes, providing a supportive, positive, and engaging environment in which they can thrive physically and socially.
Objectives
Our Program provides:
  1. opportunities for children with intellectual disabilities to participate in speed skating, in both competitive and non-competitive streams;
  2. a supportive, safe, and fun environment for SO athletes, so they can engage in a healthy physical activity, make friends, gain fitness and confidence, and be integrated with members without intellectual disabilities; and,
  3. opportunities for our non-SO skating members to assist in coaching SO athletes, and thereby gain a better understanding of those with intellectual disabilities and develop their coaching and inter-personal skills.
Program Details
We treat SO athletes the same as our non-SO athletes, and all ages and ability are welcome. The skating drills, games and exercises are grouped according to members’ size and speed, not by whether a skater is funded through SO or not.

Training sessions range from introducing the stride and mechanics of the sport, to balance exercises, to on-ice games that strengthen athletes’ enjoyment and engagement. The resulting positive and encouraging atmosphere makes the sessions not so much speed skating “training” but speed skating “fun”, and hugely successful.

​We also gently encourage SO skaters to compete at meets: this builds their confidence and desire to improve both speed and technique.
Benefits
Fully integrating SO athletes with non-SO trainees and working with SOBC-sponsored coaches and our own, allows everyone to benefit from the resulting social interactions, in addition to improving fitness, coordination, balance, confidence. Furthermore, the SO and non-SO skaters develop a healthy respect for each other’s abilities and enjoy the camaraderie of feeling part of a single club.

Some of our advanced youth skaters also help coach the SO athletes. Having coaches of a similar age helps the latter accept and meet the sport's challenges more easily. And, importantly, the non-SO coaches benefit by gaining teaching and social experience with members of society who they may not otherwise encounter on a daily basis.
Testimonials
“I am very grateful for this program. My son ... is a bundle of energy and this has been a positive activity for him. This club has been so kind and understanding especially when he struggled at times. With the club's encouragement, [he] has been competing more regularly in non-SOBC meets which has helped him deal with long days in competition.”
- Stanley (Father)
 
"What more can I say. My son ... is always smiling on the rink. I enjoyed that I can catch up with the other parents each week.”
​- Jeannie (Mother)
 “The club has been very helpful, making speed-skating, one of [his] favourite sports. He has benefited with improved social skills and friendship building.”
- Jean (Mother)
 
“[He] loves to go Speed-skating every Sunday Night. He has been gradually getting faster and more focus[sed] during the program. This has been a fantastic program for him.”
- Sun (Mother)