Young Athletes
Active Start
Active Start is one of two initiatives developed by Special Olympics Canada for young athletes. Program leaders introduce children to the world of sport by developing fundamental movement skills like walking, running, jumping and balancing. These skills provide support for everyday activities as well as a base for Special Olympics sports training and competition as athletes grow older.
- Age: 2 - 6
- Priority: Active participation for fun
- Objective: Develop play skills through movement and daily physical activity
- Skills: Walking, running, jumping and balancing
The rational behind Active Start is that when children with an intellectual disability receive early instruction in basic motor skills and have the opportunity to experience 'play', there is improvement in their physical, social and cognitive abilities.
Active Start provides lessons for young athletes to learn about running, kicking, throwing and jumping, but then builds on these experiences from the gym and provides caregivers educational information and resources that allows them to offer similar opportunities in the home environment.
FUNdamentals
FUNdamentals program leaders introduce children to the world of sport by developing fundamental movement skills like running, jumping, throwing, catching, striking and kicking. These skills provide support for everyday activities as well as a base for Special Olympics sports training and competition as athletes grow older.
- Age: 7 to 12
- Priority: Development of Fundamental Movement Skills
- Objective: Physical Literacy
- Skills: Basic Sport Movement Skills, ie. running and kicking
FUNdamentals focuses on developing basic sport skills while creating a level of enjoyment for physical activity in young athletes. Through these ideals we hope that this will encourage athletes to live a healthy active life through sport.
FUNdamentals uses activity sessions that look at specific sport skills such as transportation skills, kicking, throwing and catching that can be transferred into a number of various sports and can be used in everyday tasks.