If You're Interested In Sports, Then Consider Volunteering For The Special Olympics.
I am an athlete for Columbia Special Olympics and if you're interested in sports and helping out other people in sports, then you should consider volunteering for the special olympics. I will talk about about it's like so you can determine whether or not it's a good fit for you.
What Volunteering Is Like:
There are many different sports all throughout the year. For example, we have pickleball, volleyball, flag football, softball, powerlifting, track and field, you name it...
Volunteers will typically help out the athletes during these meetups. For example, if you come to the pickleball practice, you may be paired with an athlete around your skill level. When it comes to volleyball, you may help drill the athletes or even play against them in a game. And when it comes to track and field, you simply make sure the events run smoothly.
For many of the sports, there are area meets and state meets. These are competitions where athletes compete against other athletes from around the state of Missouri. Some volunteers will choose to go to these meets in order to volunteer and make sure things are running smoothly, but this is optional.
All in all, a lot of volunteering is simply playing sports with the athletes.
The Skill Level Of Special Olympic Athletes:
I will be completely honest with this.
You're going to get different levels of skill with the athletes. Many of them will clearly be not very good but some of them are pretty decent. For reference, our best special olympic athletes are about the equivalent of a solid recreational athlete not a part of the special olympics; they could hold their own in a pickup game with regular people. However, I would say the majority of special olympic athletes are a step below this. If the average rec player is a 5/10, many of the athletes might be a 3/10 or 4/10 in skill level.
If you're expecting D1 level talent, or even top high school prospect level talent, then you'll probably be disappointed, but if you're expecting that we all suck, then you would be completely wrong as well.
On a level of 1 to 10 with a 10/10 being a pro athlete, an 8/10 being a college level athlete, and a 5/10 being an average rec player, and a 1/10 being a 90 year old grandma who can barely move, most special olympic athletes are in the 1 to 4 range with the occasional 5/10 or even 6/10 sprinkled into the mix.
The Culture Of The Special Olympics:
The Special Olympics is more about having fun than prioritizing winning at all costs. Don't get me wrong, we're trying to win, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter whether we win or lose. I think most coaches and volunteers are trying to prioritize fairness and having fun.
For example, in a super competitive culture (like the fifa world cup) not all of the athletes will play but in the special olympics, everyone will get a chance to play regardless of their skill level.
But yeah, if you wish to volunteer, just simply go on google and type in Special Olympics Columbia MO to get started.