THE ORIGIN
Although founded in the United States of America in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of the late President Kennedy, Special Olympics events did not reach the United Kingdom until 1981 when the first British Summer Special Olympic Games took place in the Isle of Wight.

TAYSIDE SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Tayside Special Olympics Group was formally constituted and registered as a Scottish Charity in June 1995.

However, our participation in Special Olympics events goes back to the second Summer British Special Olympics of 1985 in Liverpool when we took a team of 8.

The next major competition was four years later in Leicester when our numbers rose to 40 athletes.

The fourth British Summer Games of 1993 in Sheffield saw Tayside field a team of 120 and with over a 100 medals in total were one of the most successful teams of the Games.

The fifth British Summer games take place in Portsmouth this summer from 12-19 July when Tayside will field a team of 148 in total.

Tayside athletes participated in the only major European Games in recent years when Strathclyde hosted the event in 1990.

Tayside had 20 athletes in the Scottish team.

All European events since then have been invitational sports, specific events and Tayside has again been at the forefront of sending teams of athletes and individuals to these events. For example, the European 5-a-side soccer competition in Essen, Germany in 1995, when Tayside, Scotland, was crowned European Champions.
2 basketball players from Tayside represented Scotland in the European Championships in Luxembourg in 1996.

The World Summer Special Olympics Games take place every four years in U.S.A. Tayside's first experience at this level was in 1991 when 5 athletes went to Minneapolis and in 1995, 8 Taysiders travelled to Connecticut with our 5 footballers, bringing home the bronze medal.

The British Winter Games had been held in Scotland in 1992, 1994 and 1996. Tayside has competed in all three events, starting in 1992 with 3 athletes and by 1996 sporting 10 able skiers. In the 1993 World Winter Games in Austria, Tayside had 1 athlete and 1 coach in the British squad and on 26 January 1997, the British team totalling 17. Tayside has the largest representative from any Special Olympic region in the UK, which is indicative of our development in sport over the last decade.

The Councils of Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross hold a current agency agreement with S.O.U.K.

Special Olympics is a world-wide organisation which provides year round sports training and athletic competitions in 23 Olympic-type sports for people aged 8 and above with a learning disability. Children under the age of 8 may take part in training programmes.

This gives people with a learning disability the same opportunities as any other person to develop physical fitness, sports skills and self-confidence; demonstrate courage; enjoy success and make lasting friendships. Sports are adapted to enable everyone, regardless of mental and physical limitations to take part. In the UK over 30,000 people take part in, and benefit from, Special Olympics training programmes.

Special Olympics not only provide these opportunities for personal development and interaction with their peers but also integration within the wider community. This is because all training programmes and competitions are held in local sports and recreation facilities. The aims are:- to achieve community acceptance and respect; and for individuals, through their personal development, to become useful members of that community.

For everyone, training is essential for developing skills and competition is organised regularly. Therefore Special Olympics local and regional competitions are staged annually; a National Championship every 2 years; and National, European and World Games every 4 years. Team selection is based upon each athlete's performance during previous competitions.

Jeffrey Williams, a local Arbroath athlete says of his experience at the World Summer Games in North Carolina, U.S.A., 1999:-

"Brilliant! Really enjoyed it. Didn't like running in the heat but had to do it. The competition was alright - tough people to compete against but it was worth it. A great time!"

Tayside Special Olympics promotes, develops and organises a full programme of sports events and the development of individual skills from participation through to performance and excellence. In addition to the sports programme, clubs are promoted and funded to facilitate year round training and opportunities to compete at all levels.

The Special Olympics oath was first recited by Eunice Kennedy Shriver (the Movement's founder) at the first International Special Olympics Games at Chicago in 1968. It has been recited and upheld by every athlete at all subsequent championships.

At all the competitions athletes pledge: