Kingston Police and Special Olympics Ontario launch online school championship

Kingston Police and Special Olympics Ontario have launched an online Virtual School Championship at their website schoolchamps.ca, which runs from Monday, Jun. 1 to Friday, Jun. 12 2020. 

Student athletes aged 13 to 21 can participate by registering online, selecting from up to five different physical challenges to complete, and then submit their scores to the website. The challenges are athletics, basketball, bocce, floor hockey and soccer.

“This is the first ever, Special Olympics Ontario 2020 Virtual School Championships,” Kingston Police said in a statement. “This virtual event is a safe way for Special Olympics student-athletes and unified partners to keep the spirit of Special Olympics alive by competing safely from their homes.”

The Special Olympics Ontario 2020 School Championships were scheduled to run in Kingston from June 2-4. However, in March, the decision was made to cancel due to the public health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

School Championships Games Manager and Kingston Police Staff Sergeant Jody Armstrong noted, “We were looking forward to hosting the athletes, coaches, and their families. However, since it still is not safe to do so, we are proud to be able to give everyone an opportunity to compete, connect and celebrate the end of the school year.”

Athletes then can train for the challenge and submit their best score by Friday, June 12, 2020. 

From June 16-18, Special Olympics Ontario will be hosting virtual online celebrations to acknowledge the athletes participation, and provide them opportunity to connect virtually with other fellow athletes.

The Kingston Police and Special Olympics Ontario said they are working on details to host the championships in Kingston one day. Although no time frame is available, talks continue to be underway with venues
and accommodation partners to explore concepts of the Games in the future, the release stated.