Return to Activity & COVID-19 Update  

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Special Olympics North Carolina

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Healthy and active at home

Overview

  • COVID-19 Update – June 17
    • This guidance will be in effect May 29 – July 31, 2021 (in-person activities are allowed for non-critical counties)

Special Olympics North Carolina has been committed to making all decisions regarding in-person gatherings with the safety of all athletes and the SONC community in mind and basing those decisions on current COVID-19 trends as well as guidance released from Governor Cooper and the NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Based on current COVID trends, SONC has decided to allow in-person trainings and gatherings as of April 4 for those counties that are not identified by NC DHHS as having critical community spread.

If trends change and a county returns to a critical (red) status, the local program will be required to cease all in-person activities immediately and can only resume when the county is once again out of critical status; this is typically updated approximately every two weeks.  The status of your county can be regularly checked by visiting the NC DHHS County Alert System website.

Resource documents:

Key videos to watch:

    • Preparing a Venue: Video from SOI that lays out how to successfully prepare a venue for a safe return to activity.
    • Travel to Activity and Onsite Screening: Video from SOI that lays out how to screen participants upon arrival at a venue.
    • SONC Guidelines – an overview of all guidelines listed above.  This was recorded in the fall and is still relevant with the one exception: the form referenced in this video has now been replaced with the Communicable Disease Waiver form.

COVID-19 Resources & Ways Athletes Can Stay Active and Healthy At Home

Just because an athlete may not be able to practice doesn’t mean they can’t continue working on their Below is a list of resources to help athletes, volunteers, family members and others continue to stay active and healthy while practices are cancelled or in-person activity is limited. You will also find important up-to-date information around COVID-19 and Special Olympics North Carolina return to activity protocols. Please check back here as more will be added to this page as new resources become available. Vea recursos en español.

COVID-19 Resources and Information

COVID-19: What You Need to Know

  • A course designed by Special Olympics North America to cover the basic information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) including: What is the coronavirus, what are the symptoms, how does it spread, and how you can protect yourself. This takes less than 30 minutes to complete and was created with the guidance of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Access this course now! 
  • Easy-to-read COVID-19 Booklet: Written by and for people with developmental disabilities. Created by the Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC). Also, available in Spanish.
  • Special Olympics COVID-19 FAQs

Fitness, Nutrition and Hygiene Resources for Special Olympics NC athletes

Fitness and Nutrition

  • Partner Up Power Up Fall 2020 Playbook
  • Weekly Fit Calendars: Simple week-long calendars that athletes can follow to stay fit.  These week-long calendars can be repeated as needed. 
  • Anytime Fitness  virtual, inclusive workouts: Join Anytime Fitness instructors, every Wednesday, as they lead live, virtual workouts specifically for SO athletes. 
  • Fit 5 Guide: A guide based on the three simple goals of exercising 5 days per week, eating 5 total fruits and vegetables per day and drinking 5 water bottles of water. 
  • Fit 5 Fitness Cards & Videos: These Fitness Cards & Videos offer exercises to challenge all abilities. The Fitness Cards exercises can be done at practice, at the gym, or even at home. 
  • Fitness & Nutrition Tracker: Challenge your athletes to set daily goals of staying active and making healthy choices. A six-week digital tracker can be found here.
  • School of Strength (NEW):  School of Strength is an interactive online platform that encourages athletes to participate in a fun and engaging training program that they can do in the comfort of their own homes. Developed in partnership with WWE superstar Becky Lynch, this series of videos, a fitness tracker, a coach’s playbook and a caregiver toolkit all contribute to helping athletes focus on nutrition and fitness and getting the most out of their workouts.
  • SONA Virtual Programming: This calendar of virtual Special Olympics programming happening around the country is accessible to all athletes.  
  • SONJ Yoga Cards: Created by SO New Jersey, this is a list of yoga poses you can try at home. 

Hand Washing & Hygiene

  • How to Hand Wash: A step by step visual guide on how to properly wash your hands created by the World Health Organization.  
  • Proper Hand Washing Techniques: A video lead by a Special Olympics Health Messenger teaching you how to properly wash your hands. 
  • Stop the Spread of Germs: A visual showing how you can help stop germs from spreading created by the CDC.  

Tips for Managing Stress

This can be a confusing and stressful time. Here are ways to help the anxiety and stress you may be feeling.

Young Athletes at Home

  • Family Flash Cards: Fun and engaging flashcards featuring each of the individual activities and at home equipment modifications for families to use at home to run Young Athletes.
  • Young Athletes At Home: Guide for families and caregivers on how to run Young Athletes activities at home.
  • Young Athletes Videos: Videos demonstrating the individual Young Athletes activities.
  • Healthy Play at Home: Poster for families to track the various healthy behaviors they do at home.
  • Find more Young Athletes resources at the new Special Olympics Young Athletes at Home website. 

Monthly Fitness Challenges

Below you’ll find Monthly Challenge calendars and activities:

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