Cork Mayor Honours Special Olympics Athletes
The Mayor held a reception for the 16 Cork based Special Olympic athletes at Cork County Hall. Sharon O'Brien from Charleville and Pat Dorgan from Cork City both represented Team Ireland Table Tennis at the World Games in Shanghai. Head Coach Owen Kelly was also invited and Frank O'Brien (Cobh) one of the four sport specific volunteers also attended. Speeches were given and photographs taken and then all were treated to some snacks in the newly refurbished City Hall.

Eircom the Official Special Olympic Ireland sponsors were represented by our own Michael Healy who is also ITTA Marketing Director.



World Special Olympic Summer Games 2007
I have had a number of emails asking why I haven't managed to put an article up about the World Games in Shanghai. Some of the reason is that I'm still trying to recover and catch up on the two weeks I missed. Some of it is that I have been busy writing to all the coaches of the various players letting them know how it went from my prospective and letting them know how their considerable efforts worked out.

Through this process I have been able to sort out some of the many emotional moments I went through on one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. I have to put it all into some kind of context and to do that I must set out something that I feel needs to be said. It is very easy to categories Special Needs athletes by the standard pre conceptions. But each athlete is an individual and in our case an adult, not defined by their disability. As a coach I need to look beyond what I think they cannot achieve and look to what they can, to focus on their many abilities and not their disabilities. In coaching terms I am looking at their strengths and in this area I have never worked with a stronger squad of players.

Their strengths were easy to see when I first took on training the squad 10 months ago. The level of determination, courage and enthusiasm were second to none and it was a pleasure to be able to coach athletes who were so proud to be there and so willing to work hard for their goals.

And we worked hard, on improving technique, especially within the doubles and we worked hard on some basic tactical scenarios. But in hind sight the most important work we did was on bonding the squad together and developing both trust and respect for each other. I believe it was these factors that helped us bring out the best in the players.

I say "we" as the squad was very much a family. I was assisted by Jim Kelly and Emma Smyth who grew into the difficult task of both chaperone and assistant coach and by the end of games both had proved themselves to be excellent in every respect.

I was completely blown away by the hospitality and organisation of the Chinese. Each athlete was appointed a volunteer of their own who travelled with them and looked after them each day. Many friendships were made with this tireless band of students by both athletes and coaches alike. The Chinese media coverage, both written and TV was immense and you could not go far in Shanghai without seeing a huge poster or banner proclaiming to be a good host for Special Olympics. This may all be a political move to show China in a positive light but it worked for me as the friendliness and kindness shown to all of us was inspiring.

The first week of the games in called the Host Town phase and during this time we were shown so many different aspects of life in Shanghai. We visited a Special Needs School, an interactive Science museum, a walk round the park and much more. We were protected during this time by police escorts, roads being closed and the help and support of our volunteers.

The second week was a rollercoaster of a ride, Divisioning was problematical and a number of our athletes found themselves playing against very high ability athletes. Sharon O'Brien had a scorcher of a start which made life tough for her when the competition started. There were a couple of difficulties during the first day and I submitted two protests both were turned down.

The high point of the first day was a Bronze Medal for Paul Sweeny and Anna Fitzsimons and they played well to collect it. Still the general mood in the squad was low as most players realised that they had not shown their best.

I had spent too much time running around on the first day and we reorganised our camp. We had 4 Sport Specific Irish volunteers who had helped us out during training in Ireland. We swung into action delegating four different areas, so that the staging, athlete area, families and the playing arena were all covered. Jim, Emma and I had our own timetables as we were spread over the 20 tables of the hall. Joan, Katie, Anne and Frank didn't let us down and with all the basic areas covered we all felt far more organised and ready for play. We had worked hard the previous evening to raise the spirits of the squad and the mood on the bus in was good.

The Women's singles and Men's doubles were played on the second day and the girls flew into the task. By the end of the singles Mary had won Gold and Bernadette and Anna had won Silver. Sharon had played well but was in an extremely high group. She was delighted with her performance with two of her matches going to the fifth set.

The Men's Doubles saw Pat and Fergal together. It was a bit of the Pat & Fergal Show as both players were very well supported by large family contingents. Every point was cheered and the lads played up to the crowd. Their efforts were well rewarded when they beat the Iranian pair and were just piped for Silver when they lost to Turkistan in the fifth set.

Paul and Gerry also came close against the eventual Gold Medal winners while playing in Group E. However with wins against the Greeks and one of the Chinese pairs the lads were presented with the Bronze.

The final day was the Men's Singles and the Women's Doubles. All but one of our squad had won a medal. The Women's Doubles was Sharon's last chance and she was paired with Mary who had won a Gold medal in the singles but had her leg heavily strapped. They played extremely well and used the orthodox left hand/right hand ready position, which confused both their opponents and one or two umpires! The girls took sets of all their opponents and went into the last match against the French needing to win 3-0 or 3-1 to win a medal. The group was very close and the French had just beaten the strong Icelandic pair. When we dropped the second set it became even tenser but the girls rallied and kept a cool head and with Sharon's forehand knocking out winners the girls secured a 3-1 win and the bronze medal. The crowd full of Irish supporters sung out and the atmosphere during the presentation was unbelievable.

We still had the Men in the singles and Pat and Fergal met each other in Group M. The battle of the Irish! The first set saw Fergal take an early lead but Pat came back to eventually take the first set 12-10. You would have thought it was the end of the match the way the two friends celebrated! It went the same way in the second and once again it was Pat who won out at 12-10 in the third. The two of them stood tall and proud together and I have simply never seen a display of sportsmanship the like before. Pat eventually went on to win his second Bronze medal with Fergal finishing 4th.

Paul had a poor singles event after his exertions the day before while Gerry found a store of hidden strength. He moved up gear after gear in the singles and when he saw off the challenge from the Pakistani player 14-12 in the fifth he needed just one more result for the Gold medal. Against the Greek he simply was too strong his confidence soaring. He saved his best to last celebration till last and almost brought the house down as he tried to take off his shirt and throw it to the crowd!

It would not be possible to do a report on these World Games without mentioning Shanghai itself. The city is huge with a population of 17 million, the architecture, the parks and the blend of the old and the new is stunning. At night the city is a landscape of light and a sea of humanity. We were there during the biggest holiday of the year and the city was especially bright and colourful. The city is a shopper's paradise with every well known brand and bargains to be haggled over on every street corner. But everywhere we went there people were wanting to shake hands, congratulate and cheer on all those who took part in the games.

The squad collected 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 9 Bronze medals in total with every member of the squad having something to take home and be proud of. For me some of the best performances led to ribbons rather than medals and I hope the athletes take as much pride in that. With all the medals safely tucked away it will be the memories held in the minds and the hearts that will really count and for me it will be the friendship and trust of the most wonderful group of people I have ever met.

Special Olympics have an oath that the athletes take very seriously and it is something I will try my best to put across in all my coaching. "Let me win! But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."



Final Squad Session for World Games
The last squad session for the Irish Team travelling to the Special Olympic World Games in China, took place over the weekend at DCU. The players took the opportunity to play full matches putting the finishing touches to both their singles and doubles events.

The squad will meet again on the 26th September to attend the torch run and meet the President, before flying out to Shanghai on the 27th September. With the opening ceremony on the 1st October the players will be in action soon after that.

The squad were in very good form and excited about the culmination of 9 months of training and preparation. Joe Finnigan an Irish International Umpire will be one of the officials at the games and he made a visit to the squad over the weekend. Joe outlined the expected procedure to the players who were then able to ask Joe questions about scoring and the like.

The excitement of the weekend also saw the team trying on their new Tibhar table tennis strip and the players were also presented with their new Irish Tracksuit and gear for the games. The players will return to their clubs and maintain their training for the next three weeks and then they will go into competition against the rest of the World. Approximately 800 family members and 22 journalists will travel out to support the team over the 2 and a-half weeks of competition.

Around the World in 90 Days
In 90 days time the Irish Special Olympic Table Tennis Squad will fly out of Dublin heading for Shanghai in China. The squad was once again in training over the weekend, this time at DCU. The squad was training at the IWA and was in fine form. Both Sharon O'Brien and Pat Dorgan won Gold medals at their recent Munster Regional Games. The 8 player squad was one player down as Paul Sweeny was hopefully sunning himself on a beach somewhere in Portugal. The weather in Dublin could not have been much worse but the rain didn't dampen the squad's enthusiasm as they trained over the two days. Players were well rewarded for all their efforts with a couple of films and a disco on Saturday night. The players will meet up again in July with a break during August.

On a separate item, I bumped into Joe Warne while at DCU, running past with his head phones on he was quiet surprised to see me. Joe was a student at MICC in Dunmanway and played in West Cork for a number of years. He is now dedicated full time to his running, specialising in the 800 metres. He tells me he is ranked around 5th in the country now and is working his way towards the London Olympics. It was great to catch up on the news and I'm sure all of us in West Cork wish him the best. For those of you in cork you can catch him running this weekend at the Cork City Sport. Go Joe!

Munster Special Olympic Table Tennis Residential Games 2007
The Munster Special Olympic Games were held over the weekend of June 16th-17th. Table Tennis combined with Basketball and Gymnastics for the first time as part of a mini-residential games. The athletes were treated to an opening ceremony at the Neptune Stadium in Cork and were then bussed out to their different venues. The table tennis was once again held at what I believe to be the most aesthetically pleasing venue in the country, the Cope Foundation's John Birmingham Centre in Glasheen. The two hall are divided by a stunning in door garden including a bridge over a flowing stream and pools with fish swimming away. The perfect place to relax before the competition and to share lunch.

The first morning saw all the divisioning for the various events with both skills and singles matches being played. The volunteers were out in full force and a special thanks to all the mainstream clubs that helped out including Beech Hill, Ballincollig, Macroom and other West Cork clubs. The sponsors Johnson and Johnson staffed the registration and the a number of other important jobs and by the end of the weekend many were umpiring some of the matches.

After a good lunch the matches started in earnest. The event usually played before Christmas saw a big drop in numbers with so many of the centres stretched across the three sports. This meant the event was played in a calm and relaxed manner with all the matches running smoothly thanks to the tournament team at the main desk. Marie, Ami, Alice Ann and Noelle did a brilliant job and efficiently dealt with all the matches and results. All the results themselves will be published when available.

I took my family along this year to show them where "dad" works. The kids were spoilt rotten by the volunteers and my lad James was delighted to be able to knock up with Irish Special Olympians Sharon O'Brien and Margaret Carey. I would highly recommend visiting the event with everyone so friendly and some exciting matches to watch it was a great afternoon's entertainment.

With all the skills and the singles events finished by the first day the players returned to their accommodation where the much more important preparation for the social disco started! After an excellent super at UCC players either joined in the dancing or watch the very tense draw between Tipperary and Limerick.

With the doubles finishing off the day's event on the Sunday there were also a number of other challenges that took place between a couple of the Johnson and Johnson volunteers and a match between Michael Cummins of the Cope Foundation and Simon Courveny our visiting politician. Simon both players played from a chair, Michael won a fun match 15/13.

Even with numbers down it was a great success with the event running smoothly and the evening's entertainment enjoyable, this was only achieved because of all the hard work from the volunteers, great table tennis from the players and the support of all the coaches, families and friends and the organising team of Terence McSweeney, and Phyllis Naughton, while as Head Coach I just stand around and try and find useful jobs to do!

The next Munster Table Tennis Games are due for the 1st December and we hope we will see you all there again!

Connaught Special Olympic Team/Club Championship of 25 March 2004
The inaugural Special Olympics Connaught Club Championship was held in the Commercial Boat Club, Galway on 25 March 2004. Teams from Rehab Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim; St. Anthony's Castlebar, Co. Mayo; St. Michaels Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and Celtic Table Tennis Club, Co. Mayo took part.

In the first match St. Anthony's took on Rehab Ballinamore, with their Capt. Kevin Gilhooly, who was undefeated in the last Area Games. This proved to be a very close and exciting match, with the result decided by individual skills. St. Anthony's Joseph Stack beat Ballinamore's Peter Green 11/6, 11/6 and 11/5. Kevin Gilhooly, Ballinamore beat Paul Kavanagh, St. Anthony's 11/9, 11/5, 9/11 and 11/7. Kevin Gilhooly, Ballinamore beat Joseph Stack, St. Anthony's 11/6, 11/9 and 11/8. St. Anthony's Capt. Paul McEllin beat Peter Green, Ballinamore 11/6, 11/5 and 11/2. Grace O'Malley scored a very high total of 141 in the Individual Skills to beat Angela McCrann, Joseph Guckian beat Michele Finerty to get two points back for Ballinamore. The final result hinged on the fact that Paul Kavanagh had earlier taken a game off Kevin Gilhooly. Final score - St. Anthony's 9 points and Rehab, Ballinamore 8 points.

In the other semi-final Celtic Table Tennis Club met St. Michael's Castlerea. St. Michael's had a new young team and were up against it with the more experienced team of World Games Bronze Medallist Noel Lydon and European Bronze Medallist Brid Walsh, assisted by talented Individual Skills players Noel Brennan and Kiera Joyce. The St. Michaels team of Peter Dolan, Jim Reynolds, Patrick Hatter. Simon Lambert and Martina O'Reilly tried their best, and the experience will stand to their good in future Games. Credit to Bernie and Bernadette for having the team looking great in their school colours.

In the 3rd/4th place play-off Ballinamore came through against St. Michael's. Kevin did not drop a game and is a very talented player, strongly backed up by other team members Peter Green, Angela McCrann, and Joseph Guckian.

The Final was always going to be a close encounter with two teams who train together. The first match up caused an upset when Joseph Stack, St. Anthony's beat the Celtic No. 1 Noel Lydon 11/9, 11/8, 8/11 and 11/6. This was just the start St. Anthony's wanted. The next match went to five sets between Brid Walsh and Paul Kavanagh. This match swung back and forth, with some good attacking play from Brid and Paul using the angles very well. Eventually Brid won 11/8, 9/11, 11/9, 6/11 and 11/7.

The score at this stage was St. Anthony's 5 - Celtic 4. The next match was another 5-setter, with the defensive skills of Noel Lydon wearing down the constant forehand attack of Paul McEllin 11/9, 8/11, 11/9, 7/11 and 11/5. It was then the turn of the two captains, Paul McEllin and Brid Walsh. Brid, now playing very well, won this match 3 -1 - 7/11, 11/8, 11/9 and 11/5.

The match was now down to Individual Skills, with a very close match up between Noel Brennan and Grace O'Malley. Noel proved very consistent through all the skills and scored 142 to Grace's 130. It must be noted that Grace now holds the record for the most racket bounce in Individual Skills, with 162 to a minute, which will prove very hard to beat in the future. In the final match of the Individual Skills, Kiera Joyce for Celtic had a very close 130 to Michelle Finerty St. Anthony's 118 win.

So it ended with Celtic coming through but it could have gone either way at any stage, with the final score: Celtic Table Tennis Club 14 - St. Michael's School Castlerea 8 points. Afterwards Teresa Egan Connacht Table Tennis PRO presented the medals to the teams.

I would especially like to thank the umpires for the day: Tom Kavanagh Coach St. Michael's; Marion Lydon Celtic Coach; also Connacht U21 star captain Denis McDonagh, Ballina and Irish U14 International Aileen O'Donnell, Ballina for their assistance with the event. Finally I'd like to thank Teresa and the Commercial Boat Club, Galway for the use of the facility.
Congratulations to all the teams and keep up the good work.

Kevin Devaney
Connaught Special Olympic Table Tennis Co-coordinator

Special Olympics Munster says thank you for all the help
The Munster players who represented Ireland at the World Games thanked all those, especially those within the Munster mainstream for their help and support during the lead up for the games. Ted O'Connor, Cope Foundation, Cork, Hanna Guina Carriglea, Waterford, Rebecca Bourke, Laochra Árran, Tipp, Emily Meagher CoAction, Bantry and Michael O'Grady, CoAction Bantry (Margaret Carey Nagle, Cashel, Tipp was unable to attend) presented Team Ireland Head Coach Arthur Brett with a memento of all their experiences together over the summer of 2003. In a short speech World Games Mixed Doubles gold medal winner Emily Meagher address the players, coaches and spectators at this year's Munster Open, Ireland's largest table tennis tournament.

In response Arthur Brett paid tribute to the athletes, coaches and families for their efforts in preparing the players for the experience of a lifetime. Commenting on the close relationship in Munster between the mainstream and Special Olympics he thanked the three administrators who collectively organise Special Olympic table tennis in Munster, Phyllis Naughton, Terence McSweeney and Owen Kelly.

The Mayor of Cork took the opportunity to congratulate the athletes on their achievements and encouraged all to sign up and become more involved with Special Olympic centres in their community. He also commented on the excellent facilities at Gurranabraher's Parochial Hall and described table tennis as cost effective and that support should be given within local communities where sport plays an ever more important role.

Munster Special Olympic were very grateful to the CTTA who facilitated the presentation by calling a general let in all matches in order for the athletes to be able to make their presentation and to Celtic Table Tennis for the gift they gave to each athlete.

Michael O'Grady: West Cork Sports Star
Michael O'Grady was awarded with the West Cork Sports person for the month of June. The award, a beautiful statue of the Children of Lir, sponsored by the Southern Star and Celtic Ross Hotel was made to Michael in Rosscarbery on Wednesday night in front of his family and friends.

Michael who won Gold, Silver and Bronze at the World Games is the first table tennis player to receive the award and only the second World Champion in the 3-year history of the awards. Michael paid tribute to his playing partners in the doubles and especially to his club-mate Emily Meagher with whom he won the Gold medal in the mixed doubles against a very good French pairing.

In a short speech Michael welcomed the opportunity to thank all those that had helped and supported him over the 3 year build up to the games. This included the Team Ireland Coach Arthur Brett, Munster Coach Owen Kelly and David Hayward and all those at CoAction, Bantry who have assisted him during this time.

The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games were launched, following a spectacular opening ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday night 21st June 2003. Guests of honour at the opening included Irish President Mary McAleese, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

President McAleese formally welcomed the athletes and joined with Nelson Mandela to officially declare open the 2003 Special Olympics World Games. A host of celebrities from the worlds of international sport and showbusiness took part in the celebrations, including Bono, U2, The Corrs, Samantha Mumba, Ronan Tynan, Colin Farrell, Jon Bon Jovi, Muhammed Ali, Roy Keane, Damien Duff, Eddie Irvine and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Patrick Kielty was master of ceremonies on the night. The high point of the ceremony was the arrival of the Special Olympics Flame of Hope following its 17-day journey through 15 European countries and every corner of the island of Ireland by law enforcement officers from 20 countries, led by An Garda Siochana and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In an emotional end to the evening, the torch was handed to young Team Ireland athlete David McCaulay from Derry, who lit the World Games Flame to officially herald the start of 2003 World Games. The Law Enforcement Torch Run was sponsored by eircom.

This is the first time in the 35-year history of Special Olympics that a World Games Opening Ceremony has been held outside of the United States of America.

Special Olympics at the Munster Open
Ted O’Connor, Cope Foundation, Cork, Hanna Guina, Carriglea, Waterford, Margaret Carey Nagle, Cashel, Tipperary, Rebecca Bourke, Laochra Árran, Tipperary, Emily Meagher & Michael O'Grady, CoAction, Bantry, West Cork are the 6 Munster athletes that will represent Ireland at the World Games during the Summer they were all honoured with a presentation of "Munster Special Achievement Awards" by the Mayor of Cork and the Munster Branch of the ITTA. The Award Ceremony took place in Cork during the Munster Open, the largest table tennis tournament in Ireland.

There were a number of guests including Munster Chairman Anthony Condron, CTTA Chairman Michael Healy, World Games Sponsors Celtic Table Tennis & TIBHAR Ted Bollard, Ulster Chairman Gilbert Graham, Philis Naughton Special Olympic Munster and Irish Special Olympics Team Captain Arthur Brett. The athletes paraded through the hall behind a banner held by the top Munster mainstream juniors and seniors, many of whom had helped out at the recent Munster Special Olympic Games.



Healthy Athlete Progamme
The Special Olympics Healthy Athlete Programme was officially launched in 1996 with the mission to improve, through better health and fitness, each athlete's ability to train and compete in Special Olympics. Through the Healthy Programme, athletes have access to a range of health care professionals who screen and educate the athletes on a variety of health and well being topics. To date, tens of thousands of athletes worldwide have benefited from the screening programmes. This opportunity is now available to Irish athletes.

At the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the Healthy Athlete Programme will be the largest ever (we plan to screen 3,500 athletes) and will be comprised of six disciplines:

* Optometry (the programme is called Opening Eyes);
* Dentistry (Special Smiles);
* Audiology (Healthy Hearing);
* Physical Therapy (FUNfitness);
* Health Promotion;
* Podiatry.

The Healthy Athlete Programme will be held in the RDS, adjacent to Special Olympics Town and will take place 21st -29th June 2003.

Healthy Athlete is a very exciting and beneficial programme.

We look forward to seeing all athletes at Healthy Athlete. For further information on the Healthy Athlete Programme, please contact
Leone Mitchell. Tel: + 353 1 869 1623 email: lmitchell@2003worldgames.com

2002 Special Olympics Ireland National Games

Medals:
Munster:Gold 325, Silver 405, Bronze 82, 4th Place 43, 5th Place 19, 6th Place 8.
Leinster: Gold 170, Silver 197, Bronze 146, 4th Place 78, 5th Place 32, 6th Place 9, 7th Place 6.
Northern Ireland: Gold 97, Silver 80, Bronze 56, 4th Place 51, 5th Place 9, 6th Place 4.
Connacht: Gold 91, Silver 75, Bronze 54, 4th Place 40, 5th Place 25, 6th Place 3, 7th Place 1.

Munster Table Tennis Report / Cork Table Tennis Report

The 2002 Special Olympics Ireland National Games will take place from June 19th to 23rd in Dublin. These Games will be a collaboration between Special Olympics Ireland and the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games organising committee. 1,600 athletes from the 32 counties of Ireland will participate in the sports of athletics, aquatics, bowling, basketball, equestrian, gymnastics, golf, football, and table tennis. 250 athletes from 21 European countries will participate in the sports of badminton, bocce, cycling, power lifting, sailing, tennis, team handball and volleyball. In addition athletes will participate in two demonstration sports of kayaking and pitch and putt. A comprehensive Motor Activities Training programme will also be offered.

The Opening Ceremonies will take place in Parnell Park with the Closing Ceremonies taking place in the RDS. The Special Olympics Town will be held in Dublin City University.

An initiative which will be offered for the first time at these National Games is the Healthy Athlete Programme.

Officially launched by Special Olympics Incorporated in 1996, the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program offered health services through the dental and vision programmes. This programme continued to grow and in 2000, Special Olympics 'Special Smiles' provided dental screening, education, preventive services and potential sources of treatment and follow-up care at many State and National Games in the USA. Special Olympics 'Opening Eyes' provided vision screening and free prescription spectacles and protective sports eye wear also at may US State and National Games sites. The program continued to grow and was offered at both World Winter and Summer Games. The program has developed further and now includes screenings for dermatology, physiotherapy, audiology and orthopaedics.

In June of this year at the 2002 National Games, the programme will be offered to the Irish and European athletes and will include optometry, dentistry, audilogy and Physiotherapy (FUN Fitness). It will take place in Dublin City University.

In June 2003, for the first time the Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held outside the USA. The Healthy Athlete Program will be offered to the 7,000 Irish and international athletes where they will have access to this exciting and beneficial programme during the World Summer Games in Ireland. It will take place in the RDS. At the Games the program will include optometry, dentistry, nutrition, physiotherapy, audiology and podiatry screening sessions. The athletes will have access to each of these disciplines and will be in the hands of professionals who are committed to their health and well-being.

"We are in the business of sport, but we are also in the business of changing lives" Timothy Shriver - President and C.E.O. Special Olympics Inc

2003 SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD GAMES LAUNCH VOLUNTEER APPEAL
30,000 Volunteers Required To Stage Games

Fancy being a volunteer at the biggest sporting event in the world next year? Now is your chance. The 2003 Special Olympics World Games launched, on Thursday 7th February, the country's largest ever volunteer appeal when it asked for 30,000 people to work at next year's World Games.

Launching the appeal, An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD., became the first person to apply to become a World Games volunteer at a Reception hosted by Dublin's Lord Mayor, Michael Mulcahy in City Hall attended by Denis O'Brien, Chairman, 2003 Special Olympics World Games Organising Committee and Brody Sweeney, Chief Executive, O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars, sponsors of the 2003 World Games Volunteer Programme.

Applying to become a World Games volunteer could not be easier, the Games website - www.2003specialolympics.com has an on-line application form while a special phone line - 01 869 1700 - has been set up to take application details. Volunteer information leaflets will also be available in O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars throughout the country. O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars are 2003 World Games Sponsors and Sponsors of the Volunteer Programme for the Games. Following the completion of the application form, potential volunteers will be interviewed before beginning a special volunteer training programme.

While specific skills such as languages, computers, medical, sports officiating are being sought, there is also a huge need for general volunteers who are willing to work on a wide variety of tasks. From administration to entertainment, from language translation to safety, from security to transportation, altogether there are hundreds of different types of jobs that need to be done. Over the course of the Games, volunteers will be needed at nearly 50 different locations, and tasks could include anything from moving and setting up equipment to making sure that there are enough sandwiches and refreshments for all.

Adding his voice to the call for volunteers, An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD., said. "Volunteering for an event like this is never easy. Every volunteer will be an ambassador for Special Olympics, but they will also be ambassadors for Ireland. But every volunteer will leave the Games with new friends and memories that will last forever!"

The 2003 Special Olympics World Games will be the biggest sporting event in the world next year. 10,000 athletes, coaches and delegates will be atending from 160 international delegations. The Games begin on June 21st 2003 with the Opening Ceremony in Croke Park followed by seven days of competition at 21 venues throughout the greater Dublin area. The Closing Ceremony will also take place in Croke Park on June 29th.

2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games Language Services
"I speak a language. How can I help?"

June 2003 will see 7,000 athletes from 160 countries speaking over 50 different languages come to Ireland for the Special Olympics World Summer Games. The largest sporting event in the world in 2003 needs your language skills...

In 2003, Ireland will play host to the largest sporting event in the world. As a European country with a high level of language skills, we are very keen to show the world our awareness of the need to be able to communicate in languages other than English. We aim to provide the best language service possible for the Games and to ensure that no delegate is left isolated as a result of language. We need your help to do this.

By volunteering your time and language skills, you can help to make the whole experience more enjoyable for our foreign delegates. There are six official languages for the Games (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Russian) but overall there will be more than 50 languages spoken at the Games and we need help in interpreting all of them! We need approximately 2,000 language volunteers to help with interpretation across the sporting venues, accommodation venues and other centres that will be used to host the Games. Read on to find out what kind of volunteers we need.

Language volunteers - Delegation Assistant Leaders (DALs) We need to recruit 160 DALs who are bi-lingual in English and the language of their delegation. They will meet with their Head of Delegation a year in advance of the Games when they attend a conference together from July 11th to 15th 2002. Then, in 2003, they will accompany their delegation from arrival on June 16th to the delegation's Host Town where they will stay until the start of the Games. They will go with their delegation to Dublin and stay with them throughout the Games until June 29th. Whilst undeniably a demanding role, it has proven to be very rewarding to act as guide and interpreter and has engendered lasting friendships.

Language volunteers - General Language Volunteers These volunteers will generally fulfil a dual information/language assistance role across all the venues that will be used at the Games. We need some language volunteers in June 2002 when we will host a pre-Games where we will run through many of the procedures and systems in place for 2003. Of course, in 2003 we will need a significantly larger number of language volunteers. We would hope that most volunteers would be able to help out for three or more days.

A selection of the languages that you will hear in Ireland in June 2003!

Albanian Arabic Faroese Kazakh Slovak Armenian Finnish Korean Slovenian Azeri French Kirghiz Spanish Belorussian Georgian Latvian Swedish Bengali German Lithuanian Tajiki Bosnian Greek Malay Tagalog Bulgarian Hebrew Mandarin Tamil Cantonese Hindi Nepali Thai Croatian Hungarian Norwegian Turkish Czech Icelandic Polish Turkmen Danish Italian Portuguese Ukrainian Dutch Javanese Romanian Urdu Estonian Japanese Russian Uzbek For further information you can contact Margaret Bourke, Languages Services Manager at (01) 869 1666 or e-mail mbourke@2003worldgames.com