The Team
Stephens blog spot.
Below the Special Olympics Squad….
Hi my Name is Stephen and i am 21 years old and i have been an sogb Wales athlete since 2005 i was in the Glasgow sogb game in 2005 and i have a bronze singles and a Team Gold in Boccia and now i am a Coach in Boccia.
So this time i am training for the 2009 games in Leicester in Kayaking and i do training every week in llanelli , Swansea & in Cardiff
And we will be training 6 athletes and thay are Representing Wales in the Special Olympics Leicester in 2009
in Leicester team wales come back with 98 Golds, 96 Silver & 100 Bronze medal & my self had 2 bronze & 1 4th place.
All about the Special Olympics
The athletes are participating with physical and learning disabilities. They will be attending from a range of English & Welsh regions .
Paddleability Coach, Julie Lowe says,
“The expansion of Paddleability to include Special Olympics provides another avenue for the athletes to progress through to competition.”
For the first time, one of the races will be a unified sports event, following the Special Olympics Unified Sports® initiative which combining athletes with intellectual disabilities and those without provides another level of challenge for higher ability athletes and promotes equality and inclusion. The competition will include six races: two 200m, 500m and 1000m in K1 and K2 disciplines.
Kayaking has been a recognised sport to SOGB since 2003 and it is hoped that more athletes will be encouraged to take part. Bob Billson says, “The event is a platform to bring more learning disabled athletes to participate, in order to try and expand the sport. The gold medals won at the Beijing Olympics Games have really brought the sport into the spotlight. We are pleased to have two world-class athletes as our Ambassadors: extreme kayaker Shaun Baker and World Champion Anna Hemmings.”
NEW KAYAKS FOR THE TEAM WALES
