2018 UNIFIED SPORTS FALL FESTIVAL COACHES GO TO MEETING

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1 2018 UNIFIED SPORTS FALL FESTIVAL COACHES GO TO MEETING SAVE THE DATE September 8th and 9th - Bocce, Golf, Sailing, & Softball September 29th and 30th - Croquet

2 Registration and Due Dates Unified Sports Fall Festival Intents are due: July 6. Registrations are due: July 18 for Croquet Invitational & Softball August 17 for Bocce, Croquet, Golf & Sailing Registration materials and Intent to participate are on the website: Send registration via secure to the appropriate staff person listed in each registration handbook. Insurance requests should be submitted ASAP to Coaches Handbook to be on website 3 weeks out from the games: Please remember a one day event is $20 and two day events are $40

3 Where to find the Intent to Participate form from the homepage: Click the Forms link

4 Click here to access the intent form Click here to access registration materials

5 How to complete the Intent to Participate form online: Type in your Local Program name and Local Coordinator information. Select the appropriate sports season from the drop-down menu. Select the number of events or sports from the drop-down menu that your local program will be practicing and competing in at the state competition. Based on the number of sports you select, the corresponding number of sports specific practice information will appear. Fill out all training and practice information completely and to the best of your ability. The form will be automatically sent to our office once you click submit. All intents for Unified Sports Fall Festival are due by July 7 th Please work with your coaches if your delegation competes in multiple sports per season to submit only ONE intent per Local Program. If you have any questions as you complete this form, please contact the registration@soct.org address and someone from the sports department will contact you.

6 Bocce Unified Sports Fall Festival Bocce Tournament will be held at Scalzi Park in Stamford. For anyone that would like to stay in the area a group rate of $99/tax per night at the Sheraton Stamford Hotel has been arranged. They have also reduced the parking charge per night to $7. Hotel reservations can be made by ing Dennis Nemchek at dnemchek@sheratonstamford.com or by phone at 203/ Mon-Fri, 8:00am-6:00pm. Bocce Skills will be held on Saturday only and will be open to athletes 8 and older. Traditional Bocce Tournament singles & teams will play on Saturday, September 8. Unified Bocce Tournament teams will play on Sunday, September 9. This year tournament play is open to athletes 18 and older.

7 Croquet Unified Sports Fall Festival Croquet Tournament will be held at the Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island during the weekend of September 29 th & 30 th Teams will be charged a $20 registration fee Parking: Shuttles will be available to and from off-site parking location. Details to follow. Allotments for Ocean House will be sent out to individual teams Invitational at Elizabeth Park will be held August 25 th Registration due July 18th If you are a new team looking to start croquet, please contact Rachael Polansky (rachaelp@soct.org) For new and existing teams, Bobbi Shorthouse is available for training assistance/refreshers: croquetbobbi@gmail.com or (860)

8 Golf Unified Sports Fall Festival Golf Tournament will be held on Sunday, September 9 th at Sleeping Giant Golf Course in Hamden. All teams and spectators must park at the Quinnipiac University commuter parking lot and take the shuttle bus over to the course, NO dropping off athletes or parking at Aunt Chilada s; please do not go get your vehicles while waiting for awards. Boxed lunches will be provided for teams with early tee times.

9 Golf Reminders for coaches to share with their athletes & partner 1. This is a competition and awards are given. Therefore there are rules which must be followed. There have been too many rule violations leading to complaints about them. We try our best to enforce them but golf is a game where the players traditionally police themselves. 2. Alternate shot means after Player A takes a swing, Player B then takes the next swing. If Player A swings and misses, the swing counts and it is Player B s turn. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a 10x on the hole. Failure to comply twice means a participation ribbon. This may be hard on an athlete but, in fairness to the other athletes, the rules must be followed. 3. Keep your score accurately be sure to count penalties and misses. 4. Slow Play. It should not take more than 2 hours to play. Play quickly and efficiently. Some tips will be handed out the day of the event. One practice swing is enough you can work on this with your athlete at practice.

10 Qualifying for alternate shot play Alternate shot golfers In order to make it much easier for the state office to set up the heats for the state tournament and hopefully to make the heats a bit more competitive, the requirements for submitting your qualifying scores has changed significantly. You must submit scores for 18 holes played in the alternate shot format either from an 18 hole round or two 9 hole rounds. The rounds must be played on one of the courses and tees listed below which were chosen to be close to Sleeping Giants 2600 yards. If you have a course that you think may qualify that you would rather play, submit the card to the golf committee BEFORE you play for approval. Finally you may have at most one 10x in the 18 holes. Sleeping Giant Hamden Elmridge Pawcatuck White or Red course from the gold tees Tunxis Farmington Green or White course, Front 9, red tees; Red course, red tees Blackledge Hebron- Either course, red tees Oxford Green Oxford gold tees Orange Hills Orange - Front 9, red tees Tashua Knolls Trumbull green tees Sterling Farms or Gaynor Brennan- Stamford red tees Twin Hills Coventry red tees There will be a Golf Coaches Meeting on June 21 at the SOCT office in Hamden starting at 5:30pm with a pizza dinner. Please RSVP to sarap@soct.org by June 20. Additional Golf Events Golf Skills Jamboree Sunday, July 22 nd at Lyman s Orchards, Middlefield. Please contact Joe Dennin at jndennin@sbcglobal.net if interested. Colchester Skills Challenge TBD at Tallwood Country Club in Hebron. Please contact Cliff Backes at cbackes@ol-advisors.com if interested. Alternate Shot Golf Invitational Saturday, August 18 th at Orange Hills Golf Course. Please contact Sara Pierson at sarap@soct.org if interested. New England Golf Invitational- October 2018, date TBD

11 Sailing Unified Sports Fall Festival Sailing Regatta will be held at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington Borough Dinner/Dance will be held at the Stonington Borough Fire House For those teams staying over, hotel accommodations have been made at the Quality Inn Mystic. Housing rosters are due to SOCT Headquarters by August 17.

12 Softball Unified Sports Fall Festival Softball Divisioning Tournament Saturday, August 11th, Mill Woods Park in Wethersfield Danbury Invitational Saturday, August 18 th, Ballfields at Rogers Park, Danbury For this event each team is allowed two absences, if a team has more than two you may advance to the state tournament but will only be eligible to compete for a participation ribbon. You must still complete the Absence Form and send to the SOCT Headquarters within three days from the event. Unified Sports Fall Festival Softball Tournament will be held at the Connecticut Sportsplex in North Branford and Kennedy Memorial Field in East Haven. Games will be played on Saturday & Sunday. Depending on the number of teams we have, we hope to be able to complete divisions in one day. Skills will be on Saturday only at Kennedy Memorial Field.

13 Uniforms In an effort to continue to enhance the athletes in all of our competitions, we are asking teams to be sure to have appropriate uniforms for each sport; athletes should be in sport attire for all events: No jeans allowed at any sport Team Uniforms should not be RED so that our Medical volunteers can be easily identified in their red shirts Softball uniforms should either be shorts or softball pants with a tee shirt or softball uniform shirt; athlete numbers are even; partner numbers are odd Croquet uniforms are to be white/khaki shorts, capris, pants and white shirts (polo or button down is okay/no t-shirts). In case of rain, any color jacket is acceptable. Bocce uniforms should be polo shirts or tees with shorts, capris or pants Sailing must have the proper attire including specific life jackets Golf uniforms should be polo shirts with shorts, capris or pants. Men are required to wear collared shirts. Women may wear skirts.

14 Special Olympics Connecticut Unified Long Distance Running Team Type of Activity: Long Distance Running* - 5k up to Marathons, occasional relay races. *Expectations are that athletes will complete 5k distance by end of first year. Season: August 1st thru October 31st Inception: 1990 Members: 44 Composition: 50 % Special Olympics Athletes and 50 % Unified Sports Partners Training: Practice Sites: One workout per week with team at designated practice site. (Otherwise training independently with Unified Partner when available. Training schedule according to ability/ experience) Cheshire, Wilton, and Simsbury (Day of week and time will vary depending on site but normally Tuesday or Wednesday starting first week Aug.) Race schedule 2018: New Haven Labor Day, Sept. 3 Suffield Academy Unified Cross Country Race (5k/3k), Sept. 15 Bigelow Tea 5k, Southport, Sept. 30 Hartford Marathon/ Half/ 5k, Oct. 13 Marine Corp Marathon 10k, Oct. 28 Unified Partners: Transportation: Cost: Contact: Special Olympic athletes often join the team with a Unified Partner, however unified partners are available for athletes who join independently. Athletes are responsible for their own transportation to/from practice sites and races except for races outside Connecticut. Race fees, hotels and other misc. expenses are covered by the program...training gear is athletes responsibility. Racing T-Shirt provided by program for first year athletes. Uniforms provided for veteran participants. Kevin Grimes kbg131@gmail.com, Barbara Hedden teddybear172124@aol.com Marc Mercadante marcm@soct.org,

15 Coaches Education and Training Unified Sports Fall Festival Sports Rules Certified Head Coaches - Coach certification reports will be sent out soon - All head coaches must be certified in their sport Concussion Training (approx. ½ hr) *Direct links to the below courses can be found on the Coaches Corner page on the website, under Becoming a Certified Head Coach Youth Sports Training Course - National Federation of High Schools course

16 Concussion Training ALL Head Coaches must complete the online Concussion Training Click the link on the Coaches Corner page to access the course. Please certificates to Rachael P. when complete! Visit hover your mouse over Sports & Fitness Programs, and click on Coaches Corner Click on Youth Sports Coaches Click on the drop-down tab, Becoming a SO Certified Head Coach Click the link to the CDC or the NFHS Website for the free training

17 Volunteer Updates Class A forms Please make sure that forms are filled out completely. Incomplete forms will be sent back. Verified Volunteers The background checks are more thorough and take more time SOCT will no longer be able to process any last minute forms including group home staff changes. All changes should be sent in with at least a week s lead time before an event to ensure there is enough time for processing. SOCT has a web version of the Class A form for NEW volunteers Please make sure all NEW volunteers filling out the web form are filling out all 3 steps Verified Volunteers Protective Behaviors Final application page with biographical info SOCT also has links for existing Class A volunteers to rescreen themselves If local coordinators would like to know if someone has finished their Class A online, please request that person send you one of the two confirmation s from Verified. - 1: They have completed the online Class A form. - 2: SOCT has reviewed and accepted their Class A form. Contact Katie York with any questions ex 224 or kathryny@soct.org

18 Codes of Conduct Coaches Code of Conduct Respect for Others Ensure a Positive Experience Act Professionally and Take Responsibility for My Actions Quality Service to the Athletes Health and Safety of Athletes Athlete Code of Conduct Sportsmanship Training and Competition Responsibility for My Actions

19 Health FIT 5 for Fall Sports Coaches can incorporate health information at practices leading up to Fall Sports with all materials provided by SOCT Incentive for Local Programs to receive up to $100 upon completion of FIT 5 Please contact Nicole Batista at nicoleb@soct.org Healthy Athletes We will be offering Health Promotion education at Bocce and Softball (North Branford) this year If you have any questions please contact Caitlin Daikus at ext. 238 or via at caitlind@soct.org.

20 RAINED OUT Should we have inclement weather that would affect a Divisioning Tournament, Invitational or either weekend of the Unified Sports Fall Festival a text message will be sent to those coaches who have signed up for Rained Out notices. (This is a cell phone option for receiving such notices.) If you haven t done so already, please go to: Search for Special Olympics Connecticut Scroll down and click on Special Olympics Connecticut Sign up and agree to terms You will get a text message with a code for the next step Choose the group: Local Programs & Coaches

21 Questions? If you have additional questions please don t hesitate to contact the Sports Department staff: Sports Department - Laurie-Jean Hannon laurie-jean@soct.org Bocce - Sue Mohr susanm@soct.org Croquet Rachael Polansky- rachaelp@soct.org Golf Sara Pierson sarap@soct.org Sailing - Sara Pierson sarap@soct.org Softball Morgan Powell morganp@soct.org Volunteers - Katie York - kathryny@soct.org Healthy Athletes - Caitlin Daikus - caitlind@soct.org

22 Thank you for completing the 2018 Special Olympics Connecticut Unified Sports Fall Festival Webinar. Please follow this link to confirm that you have completed this presentation: See you at the games!!!