Survey of Special Olympics Coaches Regarding Athlete Fitness Stephen B. Corbin, D.D.S., M.P.H.; Dawn Y. Munson; Courtney Pastorfield, R.N.

BACKGROUND Founded in 1968, Special Olympics (SO) has provided sports training and competition to individuals with mental retardation (MR) for 35 years.

Special Olympics Background More than 200 Special Olympics Programs and 1 million athletes worldwide 20,000 competitions annually within the 50 U.S. states and 160 nations worldwide Prepares athletes in 25 Olympic-type sports to participate in year-round competitions and Special Olympics flagship event—World Games 750,000 volunteers and more than 140,000 coaches around the world

SO began developing approaches that would more directly address athlete fitness and health A baseline assessment of coaches' perspectives, interest and involvement in athlete physical fitness and conditioning was conducted Reflects the key role coaches play in the ongoing participation of athletes in Special Olympics Determine the role they would need to play if a greater commitment were to be made to athlete fitness and conditioning

METHODS

A brief 12-item self-administered survey questionnaire was developed Eleven of the questions were of the multiple-choice variety, allowing for a gradient of responses, Final question was open ended Administered to a convenience sample of coaches participating in scheduled competitions in three states and to coaches as part of Team USA preparing for the 2003 World Summer Games Overall, 180 coaches responded to the pilot survey conducted over a period of seven months—November – May 2003

RESULTS

Physical fitness and conditioning are very important for SO athletes’ success, but most SO athletes are not fit. Question Range Overall Rating Reaching the highest personal level of fitness and health is either essential or important 67%-100% 89% Athlete fitness is not important at all to being a successful SO athlete 0% Most athletes are physically fit 0-18% Few SO athletes are fit 33-54% 40%

Coaches’ practices and role are critical for SO athletes’ success. Question Range Overall Rating Coaches neither provide information about how to achieve fitness and health nor offer demonstration of techniques to maintain fit and healthy 8-18% Coaches offer both information and demonstration of techniques to achieve and maintain fitness and health 46-72% Coaches overall feel that their role is either very important or essential 67-94% 85%

Coaches feel that SO does not place emphasis on athlete fitness and thought greater opportunities would attract and retain athletes Question Range Special Olympics places too much emphasis on athlete health and fitness 0-8% Less than the right amount of emphasis is being provided by SO on athlete health and fitness 33-50% Greater opportunities for improved fitness and health for SO athletes could attract new athletes and retain athletes 58-75% Greater opportunities for improved fitness and health for SO athletes would be of no significant interest to athletes 11-24%

Coaches strongly endorse new SO initiatives in athlete fitness and health promotion—69% overall Coaches commitment to athletes is high—79-100% said they would invest ½-2 hours per week beyond the practice schedule to promote athlete fitness. Question Range Willing to talk to groups of athletes about fitness 67-85% Willing to be trained themselves in athlete health and fitness 66-89% Willing to participate in SO sponsored pilot programs to promote athlete fitness 47-67%

Family and caregivers were identified by coaches as the most important ally to promoting athlete fitness.

Of the 19 sports in which coaches participate, athletics, basketball and bowling ranked the highest.

Conclusions The great majority of coaches feel that athlete physical fitness and health are important to SO athlete performance. So important coaches are willing to commit more personal time to their achievement SO needs to provide much more emphasis on athlete fitness and conditioning and coaches are willing to do more themselves Coaches need to be an integral part of any new efforts that SO undertakes to improve athlete fitness and health

Next Steps SO plans to expand the scope of this survey to include other countries Even with SO’s ambitious growth initiative—doubling the number of athletes served globally by year 2005, SO must maintain the quality and enhance the SO experience for persons with MR SO will continue to commit itself to the health and well-being of the MR population and pursue new opportunities to reduce barriers of all kinds

SO Healthy Initiatives Programs assists athletes in locating local doctor for services and it offers free services to athletes… Special Smiles offers dental check-ups, tips on dental hygiene and hygiene products and sports mouth guards Opening Eyes offers vision and eye examinations, prescription eye glasses and protective sports eyewear Healthy Hearing offers outer and inner ear examinations, hearing tests, earplugs and hearing aids

SO Healthy Initiatives Programs assists athletes in locating local doctors for services and it offers free services to athletes (cont)… FUNfitness offers flexibility and strength checks, physical fitness information Health Promotion helps athletes learn how to make healthy lifestyle choices, such as proper diet and exercise routines, avoiding tobacco products and advising on other lifestyle issues.

“Let me be healthy in the attempt” SO athletes are guided by the oath that states, “Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt Now we can add… SO has proven itself to be a pioneer on behalf of persons with MR. The entrepreneurial spirit of SO needs to be fully extended in the area of physical health and conditioning. SO is up for the challenge given the strong societal trends and special factors with the MR population “Let me be healthy in the attempt”

Thank you – Karron Clarke