December 2011 - Special Olympics Wisconsin

1
The Directors of Field Services
have reviewed all of the accreditation
packets. Enclosed you
may find a letter regarding your Agency’s
status for accreditation. If there
are no concerns, you have no letter.
Please contact your Director of Field Services
if you have any questions.
2
On December 3 rd , 880 athletes, including 20
volleyball teams, competed in the Fall Sports
Tournament. Way to go athletes! Hats off to
the 310 coaches and chaperones that helped make
the tournament possible.
3
MedFest was held at the Northern Fall Sports
Tournament at Weston
Lanes for the first time. The
event was a huge success, 42
athletes received a free physical.
MedFest will be back at
the 2012 Northern Fall Sports
Tournament!
4
SOWI is excited to announce the income tax
check-off bill was signed on Wednesday, November
16th at the Wisconsin State Capitol at
10:30a.m. The check-off program enables taxpayers
to make a contribution to state programs on
their personal state income tax form and will
begin with the 2012 tax season.
5
Polar Plunge® registration is now online.
With two ways to participate even those who
prefer to keep their feet on dry land can support
Special Olympics Wisconsin and be a part of all
the fun! Event participants can register to take the
Plunge on SOWI’s website or sign up as "Too
Chicken to Plunge". "Chickens" can still raise donations
and join a team. They will even get their
own t-shirt proclaiming "I was Too Chicken to
Plunge".
Top Ten
6
An inaugural SONA Regional Flag Football
Tournament hosted by the National Intramural
-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) and
Southern Illinois University in Carbondale took
place in November. Three Special Olympics teams,
including Wisconsin’s own Oshkosh Predators Flag
Football Team, participated as one of six brackets
amongst 17 college rec teams. A first for all involved,
tournament planners look forward to building upon the
new relationships formed and expanding the NIRSA/
SONA partnership to the other 7 Regional
Flag Football Tournaments NIR-
SA hosts nationwide. SOWI staff also
attended the tournament and brought
back much insight and enthusiasm for
SOWI’s Flag Football program.
7
The Special Olympics USA Scarf Project is
spreading its wings and going national, and
SOWI is one of 33 state programs participating. We
hope to drape all participants in unifying scarves at the
State Winter Games in Wausau January 28-29, 2012.
Help SOWI reach our goal of 1,000 knitted or crocheted
scarves by January 20, 2012 (please send
scarves after January 1, 2012)! For free pattern downloads,
more specific instructions, photos, and ideas
visit www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org.
8
Please join SOWI staff in welcoming Andy
Klossner, our new Visual Media Manager. Andy
oversees the designing and managing the website as
well as other social media. We are excited to have
Andy on board!
9
Wondering who to call when you have a question?
Visit the SOWI website, click on About Us
and then Contact Us. If you scroll past the staff contact
information, you’ll see a link to download a PDF
version of our Yellow Pages.
10260% from 2010 to 2011, reaching a total of
Young Athlete participation has grown
1211 youngsters with current forms at any time during
the year. Across the state there are 26 Young Athletes
sites, the program has recruited 125 volunteers, and
we are always looking to expand! A total of 7 young
athletes have transitioned into Agencies – new resources
have been developed to continue seeing this
number grow and keep athletes connected.
.