FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gita Brown, 401-456-8465, gbrown@ric.edu
Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – On Friday, April 17, Rhode Island College will hold its annual Special Olympics Motor Activities Training Program (MATP), a program for athletes not typically involved in traditional Special Olympics programming due to the severity of their disabilities. The event runs from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Murray Center, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Providence.
More than 150 athletes are expected at this event. They hail from The Groden Center, Meeting Street School, the J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center, Pathways Strategic Teaching Center and the Center for Individualized Training and Education.
Established by RIC’s Department of Health and Physical Education, in partnership with Special Olympics Rhode Island, this annual event is created and overseen by RIC students – physical education majors enrolled in the Teaching/Assessment and Adapted Physical Education course.
“Historically, the Official Special Olympics sports competition has been geared toward athletes with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, and there hasn’t been a lot of events for the severe and profound population. This was our way to remedy that,” said Kerri Tunnicliffe, RIC associate professor of physical education and teacher of the adapted physical education course. Her students have learned to assess, plan for and teach individuals with disabilities.
“This is an opportunity for our students to put their classroom knowledge to work, while providing a great service and opportunity to our special needs community,” she said.
The games will open with a procession of athletes waving to the crowd as they are introduced by the names of their schools. They range in age from seven to seniors and will choose from among six games or “stations.”
Stations include the Obstacle Course in which participants go over, under, around and through a type of fort. There is the Shooting Station, which simulates basketball. And there is the Bowling Station, in which participants roll their wheelchair down a lane, knocking over pins with their vehicle or using a rope to pull themselves down the lane.
In planning each station, Tunnicliffe’s students used their knowledge of the wide range of severe/profound disabilities and adapted the activities to accommodate all athletes, regardless of their disability.
At the Bowling Station, for instance, bells will be attached to the pins for the blind, while other athletes will benefit from the streamers attached to the pins, “which brush softly across their faces as they roll by, stimulating them to open their eyes.”
“The job of our students is to make sure that any athlete who comes to their station is successful,” said Tunnicliffe.
RIC’s Special Olympics will end with a ceremony recognizing all the athletes for achieving their personal best.
Chris Hopkins, director of programs for Special Olympics Rhode Island, talked about his program’s 20-year partnership with Rhode Island College. He said it’s a great experience for individuals who are unable to participate in Official Special Olympics sports competition because of their skill and/or functional abilities. He said, “RIC students provide appropriate sport-specific activities and we have always been welcomed with open arms by the entire RIC community.”
Jenna Pare, a RIC student involved in last year’s games, said she was “inspired” by the Special Olympians. “Professor Tunnicliffe’s class challenged me to create and implement a Golf Station. It felt so amazing to get some of these athletes out of their wheelchairs for a little while and give them some movement. At the end of the day, when the athletes smiled when they received their medal, I knew they had given it their all. Those are the most gratifying moments.”
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 graduate and undergraduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit www.ric.edu.
