Club Operations

Athletes:
To participate within a Special Olympics club, an athlete must be officially registered. Registration includes completion of a medical screening on joining the programme, and renewal of this every four years. 

Volunteers & Unified Partners:
Club Volunteers and Unified Partners must be officially registered, which includes completing a police vetting process at the time of registration, and on a three yearly basis thereafter. Volunteers must be vetted from the age of 16 and must be aged 18years or older to be included in the 1:4 ratio

Transfers:
To transfer from one Club to another, an athlete or volunteer must complete the Transfer Form and process. Note: A new Athlete Medical Form or Police Vetting Form is not required for transferring athletes/volunteers. This information will be made available to the new club within Sporty. 

Affiliate Partner Programme Registrations:
An athlete who participates regularly in registered Affiliate Partner Programmes/events can access the SONZ competition pathway once connected with and registered with their local Special Olympics Club. 

The athlete must register a support person to attend their first Special Olympics Club event using this Affiliate Programme Support Person Registration. This support person will officially act as 1:1 support for that athlete at their first Special Olympics Tier 1 club event, given they may have had limited involvement with the club/coach prior to this.  

Club Event-Only Volunteer Registration:
Clubs may wish to utilise volunteers to support the logistical running of events, who are not registered Club volunteers and do not have supervision or pastoral care responsibilities for athletes. This may include roles like timekeepers for swimming or athletics. Clubs can utilise the registration form below to support the effective management of such volunteers. It does not need to be provided to SONZ. 

SONZ and Special Olympics Clubs utilise Sporty as a CRM system; 

• to manage athlete & volunteer registrations
• to update athlete medicals and police vetting renewals
• as an athlete & volunteer database, housing all registration information
• to communicate directly with athletes & volunteers 

Special Olympics Clubs are each equipped with permissions for two CRM users who have access to all this functionality. These users are responsible for ensuring the club’s database is kept up-to-date and for completing key registration tasks. 

The how-to guides below are helpful resources. If you require further support, please contact your RSC or admin@specialolympics.org.nz 

Clubs have a duty of care to create and maintain a safe environment for their members and implement sound health and safety practices. This includes things like understanding and minimising hazards, risk management planning, and reporting mechanisms for accidents and incidents. Further information is found in the Club Guide and templates below. 

Safeguarding refers to the actions that everyone can take to reduce the risk of harm to children, young people and adults at risk and is about creating safe and positive Special Olympics environments.  

The SONZ Participant Protection Framework includes the policies and practices related to safeguarding and complaints. 

Please click on the link below to submit a complaint to Special Olympics New Zealand. This will be assessed by the SONZ Complaints Committee who will acknowledge receipt within three business days and contact you to work through next steps.

Below you will find comprehensive guides for the use of GMS across multiple Special Olympics sports.

Note that if you want to preserve the intended layout of these guides, you will need to click on the 'View' tab at the top of the page, and then select 'Reading View'. Alternatively, simply download the guide and open it on your desktop.

Please contact the Special Olympics New Zealand GMS Lead for support.

GMS@specialolympics.org.nz

Welcome to our Athlete Resources hub, where you'll find useful information specific to athletes. Explore the documents below and download anything you need to get the most from your Special Olympics experience.