To My Dear Program Leaders & Colleagues:
As an active associate and advocate of Special Olympics for almost five decades, I am very pleased this long-awaited, revised edition of the SO General Rules is now published and available for use. This revised, updated version will provide invaluable help and guidance to SO Program leaders and staff at all levels, including those at the SOI Headquarters and Regional Offices. It provides timely information to the organization and operation underlying the multi-faceted, comprehensive Special Olympics enterprise. Clearly, this revised edition will help streamline and improve administration and the overall operation of SO activities worldwide. It provides specialized, technical advice on many legal matters related to the various SO Programs.
During my many years serving in various capacities as a leader within SO, I recall many times whereby I would consult the General Rules manual. I always looked to the General Rules for assistance and guidance. In fact, it served as a kind of an operational ‘bible’ for me. This new edition will be especially beneficial as a unifying tool focusing on uniformity and unity related to our regional and local life-changing efforts to serve our athletes and their families. In my view, the information therein will help us to become more vigilant as we play the role of Guardians of the Mission of the SO Movement.
It is so gratifying to see the ‘Big Family’ of SO now has such a comprehensive and useful document.
I enthusiastically recommend to my fellow leaders at all levels within SO to make the best use of this most valuable publication.
Finally, a special ‘Thank You’ and Congratulations to everyone who helped bring this latest edition to fruition.
Dr. Dicken Young
Founder & Inaugural Chairman of Special Olympics Hong Kong
Former SOI Board Member and President, Asia Pacific & East Asia Regions
To the Special Olympics Movement:
As young women born into this movement, we have continuously been amazed and inspired by the incredible devotion of people around the world to the Special Olympics’ mission. From its beginnings at Camp Shriver, the goal of this movement has been to provide people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to grow emotionally and athletically and to form unique bonds through hours of practice and competition with others. And the goal has been to provide people without intellectual disabilities with a space to cross boundaries, connect, and form lasting friendships with Special Olympics athletes. As the movement’s capacity and scope have increased, so have these wonderful opportunities. The movement has grown remarkably, from gathering 34 children and 26 counselors at our grandmother’s Maryland farm in 1960 to the 2019 World Games in Abu Dhabi spectacle, which featured over 7,000 athletes from over 170 countries. The mission has pivoted to reflect this remarkable growth, and our SO General Rules must be revised continuously to do the same.
As chair and vice chair of the Founder’s Council, we appreciate that as new challenges and opportunities arise, people involved with the movement have the General Rules as a guide to ensure that we are all working toward the same mission that our grandmother first conceptualized. The General Rules guide our employees at Headquarters, the staff and leaders of programs worldwide, and Local Organizing Committees working to provide a stage for athletes from all over the world to gather, compete, and defy limitations too often placed on them. The General Rules also provide restrictions and best practices, which help protect a high standard of quality in programming and conduct among our programs globally.
We hope that everyone involved in the movement uses this important resource to keep us on course to accomplish the same goals through the correct means.
Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who helped create this latest edition, as creating such a thorough document demands serious time and effort.
Molly Shriver & Kathleen Shriver
Chair and Vice Chair, Founder’s Council
Dear Program Leaders:
Thank you so much for your hard work revising the Special Olympics General Rules. It has been such a long time since this has been done. It is so important to update these rules because times have changed. We now have more athletes, such as our Unified Athletes in schools and Young Athletes. We need to update the rules to address changes within our sports and the athletes we serve. So these are the revised rules we should all follow. For instance, there is no smoking at events, but now that people use vaping and other things, one can say that vaping is allowed (because there is no tobacco). This is why we need to update these rules as our Program grows.
I have been an athlete in Special Olympics since 1970, and I still compete today. I have served on many committees, sharing my voice from an athlete's perspective. Our athletes’ voices are important, and we need to speak up for the betterment of our Special Olympics movement. This is our Program. Thank you to all who worked on the revised General Rules.
Loretta Claiborne
Board Member, Special Olympics Athlete, & Chief Inspiration Officer