Special Olympics New Zealand receives funding after recent success in Germany

Team Waikato at the World Summer Games: (back) assistant swimming coach Nicky Johnson, equestrian coach Kara Lockhart, football player Kyle Scandlyn, powerlifting coach Bryce Johnsen, (front) football player Finn McNally, swimmer Matthew Smith and basketball coach Simone Kokaua. Photo / Special Olympics New Zealand

After New Zealand’s recent success at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Germany, New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) has given Special Olympics New Zealand a $270,000 boost.

In June, the Kiwi delegation of 39 athletes, including Hamilton football players Kyle Scandlyn and Finn McNally, and Te Awamutu swimmer Matthew Smith, snatched up a record number of 34 medals.

The NZCT grant will be used to help fund salaries for a number of roles at Special Olympics NZ, including the regional sports coordinators, to provide programmed sports, activities and competitions for people with an intellectual disability.

Special Olympics NZ chief executive Fran Scholey says the funding was invaluable.

“We use sport as the vehicle to enrich the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, so the support we get is always gratefully received. Understanding how much of a difference Special Olympics New Zealand can make in people’s lives is very humbling,” Scholey says.

Special Olympics NZ digital communications officer Patrick Jones adds: “[We’re] a charitable trust that provides training and competition opportunities for people with an intellectual disability. Students or athletes with an intellectual disability have often not been included or are not able to participate in mainstream activities due to their disabilities.

The New Zealand Special Olympics swim team, Jesse Williams and Haven Drinnan (back), and Bella Lammers and Matthew Smith (front).

“At Special Olympics, a key value is to ensure that everyone is included and can feel part of something, allowing participants to make friends, have a purpose, and to keep fit and healthy. Without the services that SONZ provide, our members would likely continue to be isolated, at home, and unaware of opportunities that may be able to be taken.”

Special Olympics NZ offers 13 sports across the country. Jones says the regional sports coordinators, which will be funded thanks to the NZCT grant were Special Olympics NZ’s “frontline workers”.

“From facilitating specalised programmes for children with intellectual disabilities in schools... to providing support to their local clubs and events, [they] make it possible for thousands of [Kiwis] with intellectual disabilities to experience the benefits of sport and community wherever they are in the country.”

Special Olympics New Zealand was founded in 1983 and has 42 regional clubs and programmes developed in more than 140 schools across the country.

For the past 40 years, the organisation has strived to enrich the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through sport and worked hard to ensure the capabilities of people with intellectual disabilities are visible and valued by New Zealand society.