A little inspiration: The key to adaptive and Special Olympics group coaching success is to embrace the challenge of conducting inclusive group activities simultaneously among diverse athletes by making each session’s lesson objective/theme adaptive to athlete ability. Successful coaching depends on recognizing Ability (with a capital A!), and applying creativity and progressions to challenge each athlete optimally. For example, we can all be “working on our serves” by working on parts or the whole of the serve stroke as differently and creatively as our abilities demand and allow. However differently each athlete’s journey, by sharing a common lesson/session goal, we can learn together, celebrating thematic accomplishment as a group!
2024 Special Olympics School Program Lesson Plans:
- Week #1 Lesson Plan HERE
- Week #2 Lesson Plan HERE
- Related video, “Redefining Success, Serve Example” HERE
- Coaches Tip: Stop and celebrate athlete accomplishments with the group. “Everyone stop for a second and look at what Karen just learned.” (clapping, cheering)
- Week #3 Lesson Plan HERE
- Related video, Walk and Hit exercise at 4 minutes, 30 seconds mark THIS video
- Week #4 Lesson Plan HERE
- Week #5 Lesson Plan HERE
- Week #6 (Team Challenge)
- This year, we are planning a new format for the Team Challenge Skills Competition. Teams will rotate through “stations”, with each station set up to test a specific skill (or a combination of skills). For example, a rally station, a groundstroke station, a hit-the-target station, a move-and-hit station, a timed obstacle course, etc.. Team points will be awarded for each team at each station, and then accumulated across stations, to determine team results. This will be a great competition and a lot of fun!
At our Spring coach training sessions, we covered the following topics. While some of these topics are specific to Adaptive Tennis, the content is generally useful for all coaching. We hope you find the review materials useful.
- PTI Coaching Goals, Standards, Expectations Review THIS Document
- Creating A Productive and Fun Learning Environment Review THIS Document
- Keeping Demos Simple (less is more, simple, visual, very few words)
- Basic Ball Feeding Tips Review VIDEO
- Tips on Working with Special Olympics Athletes at Schools Review VIDEO
- Redefining “success”, Embracing A(not dis-)bility, Inclusive Activities Review VIDEO (Serve Example — PLEASE WATCH prior to Session #2!)
More training videos and useful documents can be found under the “coaching” tab.
Spring 2024 Special Olympics School Programs Calendar and Announcements
- SCHOOL HOLIDAYS (No sessions) on 3/28, 3/29, 4/8, 4/15-4/19
- Bluffton and Beaufort school programs start week of March 11
- Hilton Head school programs start week of March 18
- End-of-Season Event for combined Beaufort Schools at Dataw Club on Tuesday, April 23 from 11-1PM
- End-of-Season Event for combined Bluffton schools TBD
- End-of-Season Event for combined HHI schools TBD
Spring 2024 Weekly Special Olympics School Program Days and Times
- McCracken Middle School at Bluffton High School courts, Mondays, 10-11AM
- HHI High School at HHI High School courts, Tuesdays, 11:45AM-12:45PM (new time!)
- May River High School at May River High School courts, Tuesdays, 1-2PM
- HHI Middle School at HHI High School courts, Wednesdays, 1-2PM
- Bluffton High School at Bluffton High School courts, Thursdays, 1:30-2:30PM
- Beaufort, Whale Branch and Battery Creek High Schools at Beaufort High School courts, Fridays, 12-1PM Battery Creek and Whale Branch groups, 1-2PM Beaufort group
New Volunteer Coaches! If you’re not on a coaching team and you’re interested in one of these programs, please text your name and your interest to 843-310-6080, and we will be in touch!