As the Special Olympics World Summer Games kicks off this weekend, I had the opportunity to interview Ayoub Deboub. Ayoub is a Special Olympics Ireland athlete who is currently studying Sports Exercise Management in UCD and has recently taken on the role of intern in the Communications, Marketing and Fundraising team.
Ayoub told me about what the organisation does, his own personal story about his involvement within The Special Olympics community, gave me more information about The Special Olympics World Summer Games and some of the logistics involved in organising the games. Ayoub then went on to describe some of the fundraising efforts that people have done for the organisation, the celebrity ambassadors the organisation has, how corporate sponsors assist the organisation, how the pandemic affected the organisation and what other organisations Special Olympics Ireland works with to assist their members, particularly in the area of sport.
It’s a fascinating read!
1. Can you tell me about Special Olympics Ireland, what the organisation does and who does the organisation advocate for?
Special Olympics Ireland is a sports organisation for people with intellectual disability from age 4 with no upper age limit. Almost 8,000 athletes from across the island of Ireland take part in 15 different sports through the Special Olympics.
Our Sports, Health, and Leadership programmes teach our athletes to be physically, mentally, and emotionally fit. They learn new skills, increase confidence and, most importantly, experience the joy of sports and make lifelong friendships
Besides the sports in the organisation, Special Olympics Ireland also provides programmes such as:
- The Healthy Athlete programme – this provides athletes with health screenings, health education and resources in a fun and welcoming environment. The seven disciplines in the programme are Fit Feet, Fun Fitness, Opening Eyes, Special Eyes, Strong Minds, Healthy Hearing and Health Promotion.
- Health education has programmes such as Health Promotion Programme, Stronger Minds Happier Lives and Health@Play.
- Special Olympics Ireland also has Health Messengers who are athletes who have been educators and role models within their Special Olympics clubs and the broader community.
2. Can you tell me your story of how you became involved in the Special Olympics Ireland, first as an athlete and then working in the organisation?
I became an athlete of the Dundrum Special Olympics sports club around December 2019,
The first day I started working with Special Olympics Ireland was on the 9th of February 2022, when I did my first photoshoot with the sponsors, who were Gala Retail, one of Special Olympics Ireland’s key sponsors.
On the 5th of April 2022, I got offered to be an ambassador for the Collection Day. During that day, I got filmed playing football and answering questions on the ALSAA athletics track out by the Dublin airport to promote the collection day. Also, on the 29th of April 2022, I was asked to be on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show to speak about Special Olympics Ireland and my personal life.
I was allowed to represent Ireland on the International Fitness Advisory Committee. In this committee, we had to give ideas of sports we could use for the athletes in Special Olympics training.
On the 2nd of September 2022, I was featured in Sport Ireland Changing the Game Campaign, where I stand for Special Olympics Ireland athletes. The purpose of this campaign was to promote inclusion in sports.
The Patrons of Special Olympics Ireland invited me to one of their meetings on the 21st of October 2022. During the patron meeting, I spoke about my journey in the Special Olympics and what it means to me as an athlete and an ambassador.
I travelled to Belfast on the 3rd of March, 2023 with Karen Coventry (Director of Sport) and Hayley Kavanagh (Health & Wellbeing Coordinator) to promote a new Programme for Special Olympics young athletes, which was Health&play. This programme aims to teach young athletes about keeping healthy and what food is good for them. I did an interview explaining why young athletes must learn at a young age about healthy eating.
I helped promote the Abseil Campaign in Croke Park on the 14th of March 2023, where we did some photoshoots with the Abseil ropes, which will encourage people to the Abseil Challenge.
On the 10th of March 2023, I visited the Britvic factory in Kylemore as an athlete with Special Olympics Ireland. At the start of the day, when we arrived at the factory, we were greeted by employees that worked there as they clapped for us when we walked in. We came in and met everyone at the factory and sat down and had a Q&A with the employees there as we answered questions that they asked us. After the Q&A, we got a tour of the factory, where they showed us how they make drinks such as club orange, 7up Free and Energise. When our tour of the factory was over, we were involved in a few games they had set up for that day. Thankfully, my team won that day.
From all the things I did with Special Olympics Ireland in the past months and years as an athlete, I could do more with them. I told myself this would be a good opportunity for me since I am studying sports experience management and have some background in disability in sports. I reached out to Special Olympics Ireland, asking them if I could do an internship which was part of the course, and they happily agreed to bring me on board with them in the Communications & Marketing and Fundraising team. I started my internship on Friday, the 12th of May when the Abseil challenge was taking place in Croke Park. My role was to interview the participants doing the Abseil and ask them how they felt about it and how people can be more involved in Special Olympics Ireland.
3. The Special Olympics 2023 World Summer Games is about to underway. Can you tell me more about the event? Where is it being held, how many Irish athletes, volunteers and staff are going to it?
The Special Olympics 2023 World Summer Games is in Berlin from the 17th to the 25th of June. There are about 73 Team Ireland athletes that are participating in the games. Team Ireland will participate in sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, bowling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, kayaking, swimming, and table tennis. There are over 60 volunteers to aid the team Ireland athletes in the world games.
4. There must be a huge amount of logistics in sending a delegation that big. How did the organisation and competition organisers arrange the travel and accommodation arrangements for the athletes and volunteers going to the competition?
Special Olympics Ireland is working with Aer Lingus for the flights for Team Ireland athletes travelling to Berlin. Local organisation committees in Berlin organise accommodations for the athletes and volunteers travelling to the world games in Berlin.
Several sites were visited in Berlin in June 2022 to see the hotel facilities and to make sure the hotel was suitable for:
· Enough bedrooms for all the groups
· Rooms were available from the 16th to the 24th of June.
· Accessible for everyone, e.g., lift, dietary requirements etc.
· Had nearby transport.
5. As a charity the organisation has raised a significant amount of money from the public. What are some of the best fundraising campaigns the organisation and its members have created to raise funds from the public?
One of the best fundraising campaigns that Special Olympics Ireland did Can’t Stop Now campaign. This campaign aimed to raise funds for Special Olympics Sport, Healthy Athlete and Athlete leadership Programmes delivered online and in person. There have been many things to help fundraise for this campaign, such as Raffles, Collection Day and a 5km challenge
6. Apart from donating or fundraising what are some other things Irish people can do to help the organisation?
There are many ways that the Irish people can help Special Olympics Ireland.
Volunteering: Special Olympics Ireland relies heavily on volunteers as they can organise events and volunteer at local Special Olympics Ireland clubs. As most teams tend to need extra help in training and matches they participate in. With more volunteers, most clubs would be able to continue their training or continue in the competitions, as there is a limited number of volunteers to help. If there were more volunteers, the athletes would have more opportunities to participate in games and explore other games as the volunteers support the team, which can help the athletes and run the clubs. Many clubs have lost their volunteers due to the Covid Pandemic, leading clubs to have fewer volunteers to help, meaning that some clubs will not be able to continue.
The way that people can help Special Olympics Ireland is to spread awareness of what the organisation does and its mission, especially if the Irish people share information on social media. More people will become aware of the organisation itself, and they will either become a volunteer or an athlete. Most people will not know that there are sports for individuals who have an intellectual disability. Once people know someone who has a disability, they can send that information to them or anyone who wishes to work with them.
People can also support athletes by attending their games or anything they are involved in. Supporting an athlete will increase their confidence in their performance. Many athletes are afraid to perform, as many don’t feel confident enough to participate in games. If family and friends support the athletes, this will give them a boost in their performance.
7. Who are some of Special Olympics Ireland’s best celebrity ambassadors? What work do they do on behalf of the organisation?
– Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell, who is a Hollywood star, asked the Irish people to dig deep in support of the Special Olympics Ireland’s Can’t Stop Now campaign.
– Stephanie Roche
Stephanie Roche joined forces with Special Olympics Ireland to ask the public to help raise €200,000 throughout May 2021. A collection day for Special Olympics, Ireland went Virtual due Covid 19. People across Ireland were encouraged to donate or organise a virtual fundraising event.
– Robbie and Claudia Keane
Robbie and Claudia Keane encouraged the country to get behind the athletes competing in the games in Los Angles 2015.
– Paul O’Connell
Paul O’Connell, an Irish Rugby captain and his aunt, a past athlete of Special Olympics, asked the Irish public to support athletes competing in the Special Olympics Ireland games in Limerick, which was 12th to the 15th of June 2014.
8. What corporate sponsors does the organisation have? Apart from financial assistance, how do they help promote the organisation?
– Eir
Eir has been one of our longest corporate sponsors for 38 years, they have supported the organisation in many ways as they provided us with telecom such as phones etc. A lot of their staff are volunteers in Special Olympics Ireland and with the Berlin games happening, they have sponsored all the uniforms for the world games.
– Gala Retail
Gala Retail selects one club every month to support the team with uniforms, equipment, and anything else that the club needs. Gala Retail also sponsored uniforms for families and friends travelling to Berlin to watch the World Games.
– Dell Technologies
Dell’s staff does lots of volunteer work in the Munster region. Also, they were involved in an abseil campaign in Croke Park.
– Shaws
Organised a bake sale to support an athlete travelling to the World Games.
– Bank of America
Bank of America has been doing many things with Special Olympics Ireland, such as volunteering and being a key sponsor for the athlete leader forum.
9. What impact did the Pandemic have on the Special Olympics? Are there any positives the organisation can take out of this time?
The positive thing that I can take out during the pandemic time for Special Olympics Ireland would be that they managed to keep the organisation going. They had many sessions with the athletes to keep them active. I remember for my team. We did many things, such as quizzes, games, and step challenges, which made the Dundrum Special Olympics sports club athletes come together and meet their friends through Zoom, which was good during lockdown. Special Olympics Ireland had many online classes during lockdown, such as workout classes, Athlete leadership, and challenges at home which was a pleasant experience for all athletes.
10. What other organisation in Diversity and Inclusion in Ireland are The Special Olympics Ireland big fans of?
Special Olympics Ireland is a huge fan of other organisations with Inclusion and Diversity, such as Enable Ireland, Active Disability Ireland, IWA Sport, and FAI Ireland.
– Enable Ireland: I am currently working as a sports teacher at Enable Ireland school, which is called Sandymount School. The things that I am doing for the children in the school are sports and specifically adapting them so the children would be able to participate in these games, which will make them feel included as most of them wouldn’t be capable of doing some games that others can do, that’s why I adapted it so everyone can be involved in the fun. Special Olympics Ireland is a massive fan of what I do in that school. Also, they are supporting what Enable Ireland is doing, which is providing services for special needs such as clinical assessment, therapy, education, training, residential, respite, PA, and family support services.
– IWA Sport is also one of Special Olympics Ireland favourites, as IWA is the Governing body in Ireland for Wheelchair basketball, Wheelchair Rugby, and Para Powerlifting. Alongside these sports, they run a multi-sports club for young people and partner with many para-sports associations and clubs. Also, they are promoting women in sports and educating coaches and teachers in Para- Sports, and inclusion is part of their programmes.
– Active Disability Ireland: their organisation makes sure that people with disabilities have more opportunities to take part in the physical activity of their choice. Special Olympics Ireland likes seeing people with disabilities have opportunities to participate in sports they want.
– FAI Ireland has a programme which involves an induvial who has a disability. This programme is called Football for All. This programme involves all groups and sporting bodies catering to people with a disability who want to play football. Around 3,800 players are participating in all our programmes. FAI works with football for all affiliates to govern programmes within football for all, such as the Irish Amputee Football Association, Association of the Powerchair Football, and the CP Football Development Academy. All these Football for All Affiliates independently govern their specific football game across Ireland, providing the pathway for their members from grassroots to international where possible.