It’s time for Oxford Special Olympics Summer Sports signup. Actually, it is a little late, so please register as soon as possible as we need to plan practices and reserve our spot in the SOCT Summer Games, so we need to know who will be participating in training and competition. All of the information is in the signup form, but I will repeat it here as well.

Medical / Release / Volunteer Forms

If you have previously trained/competed with us we have your forms on file, and we will notify you when they are expiring.
If your forms have already expired or you are NEW to Oxford Special Olympics, you cannot start training with us until we have valid forms on file. (Links to forms are at the bottom of this page)
If you are transferring from another local program we will need copies of your forms.

Summer Sports

This year Oxford is training and competing in three sports – Cycling, Track & Field, and Swimming (both Advanced and Developmental)

Competition will be at the Special Olympics Connecticut Summer Games on 

• Cycling – June 7th / 8th
• DEVELOPMENTAL Swimming – FRIDAY June 6th
• ADVANCED Swimming – June 7th AND 8th
• Track and Field – June 7th AND 8th

We do not know specific information for where events will be held or exact times yet. No time trials are planned. More information to be supplied as it becomes available.

Training 

Cycling –

Practice will be starting on 4/10/205 and continue on Thursday nights at 
Oxford Senior Center, 10 Old Church Rd Oxford CT 06478at 6:15pm – Dark

Track & Field –

Practice will be starting on 4/8/2025 and continue on Tuesday nights at 
Oxford High School – 61 Quaker Farms Road Oxford CT 06478 , 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Swimming –

Swimming will be starting on 4/22/2025 (Please NOTE the date)
Advanced (able to swim MULTIPLE laps of the pool UNATTENDED) – practice Tuesday nights at Oxford High School, 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Developmental Swimming (can be a beginner / requires help in the pool) – practice Tuesday nights at Oxford High School – 61 Quaker Farms Road Oxford CT 06478, 7:30pm – 8:45pm;

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Signup

Please register at the link below. Fill out a SEPARATE signup for EACH person participating – Athlete, Unified Partner, or Coach – including each family member.

https://bit.ly/OSO2025SummerGames

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Bowling Season (For all athletes currently registered with Oxford Special Olympics) is starting TUESDAY September 26, 2023 and we have electronic signup forms (see link below).

(Unified Partners must have UNIFIED FORMS and CLASS “A” Forms on file 
If you plan on competing, please select COMPETITION)

PRACTICE LOCATION –

**** LAKEWOOD LANES 694 Lakewood Road, Waterbury, CT 06704 ****

(If you are NEW to OSO or haven’t trained with Oxford Special Olympics, then please send an email to LarryD@OxfordSO.org before signing up)

If you are already a part of Oxford Special Olympics then Please click the following link to signup for bowling:

https://bit.ly/2023OSOBowling (THE LAST DAY TO SIGNUP IS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22)

If you don’t sign up using this form, YOU WON’T BE ELIGIBLE TO BOWL.

ALL Athlete and Volunteer Forms must be up to date and on file BEFORE Thursday September 21, 2023 (You will be unable to train and ineligible for competition until your forms are up to date and on file).

Bowling Competition Weekend November 18 & 19, 2023 (Individual Athletes on one day and Unified teams on the other – which day we will be competing is not known at this time)

(WE DO NOT KNOW which venue we will be competing at as of this time)

That includes Volunteers and Family members.

If you have not filled out the forms or are unsure, please contact Mo (MomBlees@OxfordSO.org) or Larry (LarryD@OxfordSO.org) to find out.

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR FORMS, If your forms are expired (athletes, partners and volunteers) you will NOT BE ABLE TO BOWL!)

Practice is Every TUESDAY from September 26 thru November 14, 2023 at 6:15 pm

(THERE WILL BE NO BOWLING ON HALLOWEEN)

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In lieu of everyone paying to bowl, we are asking EACH bowler to bring something for the Food Bank to EVERY practice. (Please NO EXPIRED FOODS)

Oxford Special Olympics pays $12.00 for every bowler each week, so we are asking you ALL to “pay it forward” and bring items for the food bank.

We can all make a difference if we work together.

Some suggestions:

• Cereal, instant oatmeal, boxed potatoes
• Canned potatoes, canned vegetables (any kind), canned fruit (avoid glass!)
• Tuna fish, baked beans, peanut butter
• Progresso or Chunky canned soup, canned stew or chili
• Soap, shampoo, conditioner
• Healthy snacks (granola bars, nuts, dried fruit)
• Pasta, pasta sauce, mac ‘n cheese
• Ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo
• Cake mix, frosting
• Paper towels, toilet paper
• Toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream
• Local supermarket gift cards!

Together we can make a difference in the lives of local families.

It’s been a VERY long time since we have trained for Winter Sports, and we are getting ready to start up again in January 2023 – Fridays and Sundays during January and February are our days to practice – Sunday for Alpine Skiing and Friday for Snowshoeing / Cross Country.

So, it’s time to register for 2023 Winter Sports Season (Alpine Skiing / Cross Country Skiing and Snowshoeing), we have to let Special Olympics CT know how many we will have training and competing. 

Our Alpine sports registration is due to the State office by November 30, so that gives us about 3 weeks to gather all of the information.

• Alpine Practices will be starting on Sunday January 8, 2023 at Powder Ridge Mountain – please check our calendar of events for any updates of dates and times (www.OxfordSO.org). 
• Snowshoe/Cross Country practices will be starting on Friday, January 6, 2023 at Oxford Center School – please check our calendar of events for any updates of dates and times (www.OxfordSO.org). 

2023 Special Olympics CT Winter Games will be held March 4 & 5 2023. 

Competition will be ONLY ONE DAY – We don’t know which day yet!

If you will not be available that weekend or are unable to make either of those days, then you should select “TRAINING ONLY”

THERE IS NO STAYING OVER THIS YEAR! 

ONE DAY ONLY 

NO DANCE, 

NO HOTEL

Unified Partners and coaches please sign up also, so we are sure we have enough help and that you will be registered

** CERTIFIED COACHES: if you plan on helping at competition, please select “COMPETING” on the registration forms.      

Practices will be held on Sunday evenings at Powder Ridge. (CHECK the OSO CALENDAR IN DECEMBER FOR UPDATES)  

(Depending on how many slots/tickets we are allotted – If you are signing up for “Training Only” there is NO GUARANTEE that you will be allowed to train.)       

You may train in multiple sports, but since the competition is on the same weekend, you will have to choose ONLY 1 sport to compete in. 

If you would like to train in multiple sports then you will need to fill out both forms if that is the case.

Please select the sport you will be training/competing in and click the proper link below:

1)      Alpine ->  https://bit.ly/2023OSOAlpine (This form NEEDS to be filled out by Tuesday November 30^th – there will be NO LATE ENTRIES)

2)      Snowshoe/X Country ->  https://bit.ly/2023OSOWinterSports

Can’t hurt to say this again… Depending on the number of Slots/Lift Tickets we are allotted, there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to “TRAIN ONLY” in Alpine. (We also need to make sure we have enough coaches for each sport.)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The start date for the 2022 Golf and Croquet season is set for Tuesday July 12, 2022 at Oxford Greens Golf Course

Address: 99 Country Club Dr #1188, Oxford, CT 06478.

You MUST be preregistered using our online signup sheet (See Below) – that includes Unified Partners and Coaches/Volunteers. Even if you are only coming for “Training Only”, please use the online signup form, so that we will know how many participants we will have and can try to have enough volunteers. We will really need age appropriate Unified Partners.

If you don’t sign up using this form then you will not be eligible for COMPETITION – please note, you will receive a confirmation email with all of your responses, please double check.

Here is the link to register – Click on this Link and fill out the form to sign up for Golf or Croquet: http://bit.ly/2022OSOGolfCroquet  

You should receive a confirmation email with your responses to the form.

If you plan on attending the practices …. Please take the time to register online, Please select “TRAINING ONLY” if you do not plan to go to competition. 

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE SIGNUP FORM BEFORE CLICKING SUBMIT!

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE GOLF EQUIPMENT, PLEASE LET US KNOW VIA EMAIL, SO WE CAN TRY TO GET YOU SOME.

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WHAT TO WEAR: A collared shirt, dress shorts and sneakers or golf shoes with no metal spikes.  NO TEE SHIRTS AND NO JEANS ALLOWED ON GOLF COURSE!! 

RULES: Common sense prevails – No shouting or loud talking in vicinity of practice greens or tees – Golf courses are places that are typically quiet for the concentration of the participants – 

No swinging of golf clubs off of the practice tees or without the direction of your coach. Listen to your coach!! 

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Sports

1. Oxford Special Olympics will be training in two sports this season – Golf and Croquet Competition will be at the “2022 Special Olympics Connecticut Fall Sports Festival”. 

• Golf Competition will be held at Sleeping Giant in Hamden on SUNDAY September 11, 2022. 
• Croquet competition will be held at Ocean House in RHODE ISLAND either Saturday or Sunday September 17 air 18, 2022 (we will find out which day we compete at a later time). There will be a Unified Croquet Qualifier on Saturday August 20, 2022. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – CROQUET

• FYI: Croquet competition is held OUT OF STATE IN RHODE ISLAND. 
• It is a UNIFIED EVENT, which means athletes will be paired with a Unified Partner of equal ability and age. We will need unified partners to sign up for competition in order to form teams.
• If we do not have partners of similar age and ability, then athletes will be able to train, but may not go to competition.
• Special Olympics CT gives each local program an “allotment” of how many teams we are allowed to bring to competition, the last time we competed, we only had 8 teams, which means only 8 athletes were allowed to participate in competition along with 8 partners. We do not know the exact number that we will be able to bring this year, so it is very important to sign up for croquet competition EARLY.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – GOLF

• IF YOU DO NOT HAVE GOLF EQUIPMENT, PLEASE LET US KNOW VIA EMAIL, SO WE CAN TRY TO GET YOU SOME.
• Athletes will be signing up for Individual Skills competition, unless they have previously competed in “Unified Alternate Shot”. In order to be considered for Unified Competition the following rule shall apply (and is at the discretion of the Head Coaches) Alternate Shot Golf with a Unified Partner: 

1. The standard for eligibility is for an athlete and Unified partner to have completed an Individual Skills Competition with a total score of at least 60 points. In addition, the athlete should score 10 points or more in at least four out of the six skills, with one of the four scores of 10 being in either the wood or iron shot. The athlete should also achieve a minimum of five points in the two skills that total less than 10. If the athlete is scoring above 100 in the ISC (minus the bunker shot), it is recommended that they begin participating in Level 2 competitions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Larry Doherty

Volunteer Sports Coordinator – Oxford Special Olympics