Volunteer

Become a Volunteer or Coach

Volunteers are what make Special Olympics Ontario - Ottawa a success! Our Athletes look to our volunteers for inspiration, guidance and coaching. In return, our volunteers have amazing experiences and help make a difference!

The Benefits of Volunteering

As a grass-roots organization, Special Olympics relies on volunteers at all levels of the movement to ensure that every athlete is offered a quality sports training and competition experience. Volunteering for Special Olympics can be a life-changing experience — not just for the athletes, but for you as well. Special Olympics Ontario's programs promote participation and inclusion and transform the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. When volunteers come together with athletes with intellectual disabilities through Special Olympics, longstanding myths are dispelled, negative attitudes changed, and new opportunities to embrace and celebrate people with differences are created. 

Who Can Volunteer?

Special Olympics volunteers should have the following attributes:

• enthusiastic, highly motivated individual who has excellent interpersonal and communication skills

• high integrity, are passionate about helping others, and believe in the vision of Special Olympics Ontario

• interested in assisting in the growth of Special Olympics in the Ottawa area and making a difference in the lives of others

Benefits   

Have the opportunity to experience and help athletes with an intellectual disability achieve their goals and reach their full potential

• Improve your coaching and/or administrative skills

• Meet new people and contacts

• Participate in recognition events

• Pursue training and continuing education

• Stay active in sport

• Use your skills to help others

• Add meaningful experience to your resume

What do the volunteer opportunities involve?   

Program volunteers and coaches:

• provide training for athletes in any of our different sports

• work with athletes to improve basic motor skills and teach sport-specific skills

• prepare athletes for competitions

• commit about 1-2 hours weekly

• commit some weekends for competitions

• Be a part of athletes achieving their goals and capture the spirit of Special Olympics!

Please refer to the coaches page for more details on various volunteer positions.

Event Volunteering

• Experience the energy of a Special Olympics event!

• Spend an exciting day at a competition timing races, measuring long jumps, serving lunches, fundraising, and much more!

Administrative Volunteer

• Share your expertise and talents on a planning committee

• Gain new leadership and organizational skills, or utilize your creative side in organizing on a fund raising event or competition

• Gain skills in fundraising, budgets, planning, coordinating and much more…

Other

We also welcome volunteers with professional skills that can help us match possible needs in the organization:

• Photographers

• Singers

• Graphic designers

• Medical Experts

• etc…

Get connected, Get Trained, Get Started!

Click here to complete an online volunteer intake form. This is the first step in a formal registration process to become an active volunteer. Your application form will be forwarded to a community contact for your program of interest.

* Please be advised that you must be 14 years of age or older to be a volunteer with Special Olympics. All volunteers 18 years of older must complete a valid police check (Vulnerable Sector Check).

Have any more questions?
For more information about volunteering with Special Olympics, please contact our Volunteer Lead by email: volunteer_coord@specialolympicsottawa.ca