Ulster Athlete Leaders honoured at Mini-Forum and Awards Ceremony
On Saturday 14 December, 19 athletes from five Ulster clubs gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan for an Athlete Leadership mini-forum and awards ceremony. The day began with a workshop presented by Mental Health Ireland, followed by a workshop on creating a booklet of Christmas voucher. The participants enjoyed lunch, and finally came together for the awards ceremony.
16 athletes were presented with awards. Of these,15 athletes received bronze awards and one athlete received both a gold and a silver award. The awards were presented by Garda Inspector Colm McNally and Garda Caroline McKenna of Monaghan Garda Síochána. The awards have three sections: acting as an ambassador for Special Olympics, volunteering, and committee work.
Bronze Awards
Andrew (Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club) made an informative poster and took some great photos. He volunteered at bocce; helping with equipment and supporting partially-sighted athletes. He was a member of the club’s gala planning committee.
Michael (Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club) made two great speeches, including an excellent talk on the history of bocce. He volunteered as a fundraiser and did product work for Oxfam. He was on the sub-committee organising the summer picnic.
John (Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club) made an excellent speech on social farming and what it meant to him. He volunteers at country fairs, giving talks on antique traps. He is the athlete representative on the Breffni Club Management Team
Aileen (Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club) made a great speech on bocce to her college mates. She created a beautiful poster, volunteered as a fundraiser and collected money for three different charities. Aileen was the Chair of Sub-committee for summer picnic.
Kieran (Down Special Olympics Club) gave a great speech on his experience of volunteering at swimming events during the Berlin World Games. Kieran is a valued committee member of the Ulster Athlete Leader Committee.
Grace (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) made a great speech to Royal College of Surgeons. She volunteers at the ARCH club and Hospice Shop. She was the Liaison Officer on the party planning committee.
Eamonn (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) took some beautiful photos and created a great poster. He volunteers as a litter picker, and is the treasurer of the party planning committee.
Tom (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) delivered a lovely thank you speech and created a poster with impressive use of graphics. He volunteers with a Parents and Friends of People with Disability group, and litter picking, and was chair of the party planning committee.
Justin (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) took some lovely photos for his ambassador tasks. He volunteers with the County Council, giving out dog waste bags. He was a member of the party planning committee and learnt to work as part of a team.
Cormac (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) gave a fantastic best man speech at his brothers wedding and another great speech at a forum. He volunteers at Riding for the Disabled Monaghan Group and is also on the committee there.
Clare (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) did a wonderful presentation about cook book she wrote and got published. She volunteers at the Darkness into Light Walk and helps out at ICA. Clare was the secretary of the party planning committee.
Mark (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) recorded a Christmas Song and marketed it, donating the profits to charity - what a volunteer role! He also recorded speeches about this. He was on the party planning committee and learnt a lot about how committees function.
Paul (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) created an informative poster on dental health and took some lovely photos. He volunteers on the gate of his local GAA club and looks after plants at his day centre. He was on the party planning committee.
Lee (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) created a poster and took some great photos of farm animals. His volunteer role is getting healthy snacks for his football team. He was the vice- chair of the party planning committee.
Sean (Monaghan Special Olympics Club) created a beautiful poster and took some lovely photos. He volunteers as a DJ for Faith and Light meetings and ARCH meetings. He was the entertainment officer on the Party Planning Committee.
Silver and Gold Awards
Adam (Lisburn 2gether Special Olympics Club) is one of a handful of athletes who have completed Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. For his Silver award project he visited schools and talked to pupils about Special Olympics. He represented Special Olympics at many events and contributed to the club management team.
His Gold Award project involved recording voice-overs for the charity Mencap. He was an outstanding ambassador for Special Olympics and a valued member of the Ulster Athlete Leader’s committee. He has volunteered at many Special Olympic Events and with his local football team.
Adam was supported throughout the process by his mentor and father, Alan.
Future Awards
Jackie (Down Special Olympics Club) completed her bronze award several years ago. She is working towards her silver award and has already completed a lot of the requirements. Jackie volunteers as a young athlete coach and a golf coach and is a valued member of the Ulster Athlete Leader’s Committee.
Oisin and Lochlan from Skiability NI attended the event, and both athletes were inspired to begin the journey to the Bronze Award. Oisin is being trained in media and interviewed athletes, staff and mentors at the event.
