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*Introduction to Athlete Leadership

Course Overview*Part 2: ALPs and YouPart 1: Overview of ALPsPart 3: Your Mission Statement

*Part 1: Overview of ALPs

Introductions*NameCountymentor

* ALPs What does it stand for?

Athlete Leadership Programs

ALPs History & Philosophy Started in 1997 Began as a single public speaking course Now a cornerstone of S.O. movement

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Cultural shift From a focus on pity To a focus on respect Respect of athletes experience & potential

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Excellent management tool Athletes know the program Athletes give good input ALPs byproduct learning skills that are useful in the life of the athlete

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Existing ALPs Programs*Lets define just what ALPs really is.

Definition of ALPs*ALPs University athletes from IndianaAllowing athletes to choose HOW and in what ROLE they participate in Special Olympics.

ROLE PLAY TIMETell us about your choices Clothes Hair cut How you treat others To be at ALPs

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Definition of ALPs*Encouraging athletes to take meaningful positions of influence and leadership throughout the organization to help determine policy and set direction.

ROLE PLAY TIMEGive us an example of meaningful roles Help with fundraising Teach other athletes to volunteer Have a voice in Special Olympics

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Definition of ALPs*Jan Griepenstroh teaches about VolunteeringProviding training for coaches, volunteers & parents as they welcome athletes in their new roles.

ROLE PLAY TIMEWhy is training for mentors, parents, & coaches important? They dont think we can do it They need to learn to believe in our abilities They need to remember that they are there to help us but not do the work FOR us

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Role of mentor*Know the athleteAlways give encouragement especially before a speech or eventProvide support as neededAllow athletes to express themselvesListen people want to know what the athlete thinks, not the ideas of the mentorCommit to working with the athlete

Role of mentor*Act as a leadership coachHelp express the athletes opinions if they have problemsWork with parents, guardians or group home to explain what ALPs isEnsure meaningful positions of leadershipHelp athletes stay on taskHelp understand minutes of meetings

Role of mentor*Make sure you know about training opportunitiesEnsure opportunities to do practical experienceProvide transportation if neededHelp athletes with medical or diet needsValue your athletes opinions and preferences

Role of mentor*Work in a one-on-one relationship with your athlete during each class and locallyCommit to a partnership with your athlete to make their ALPs experience as meaningful and educational as possibleBe an advocate for the athlete

*Part 2:ALPs and You

ALPs and YouAsk yourself: Why should I get involved with ALPs? What will it do for me? How will it benefit others?*

What can ALPs do for youConfidenceOn the jobFacing fearsSelf-respectSelf-worth

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What can ALPs do for youKnowledge Public speaking Technology Leadership

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What can ALPs do for youSocial skills Coaching Listening Respecting others while they are talking Respecting opinions of others*

What can you do for ALPsSpokesperson Speak to others about S.O. Speak to companies to raise money What else?*

What can you do for ALPsTeacher Become an ALPs instructor Help others become ALPs members What else?*

What can you do for ALPsGood Role Model Show others the right way Respect ALL S.O. members (athletes, volunteers, etc.) What else?

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*???Athlete Leadership Programs

Existing ALPs Roles*Can you name some existing ALPs roles for athletes?

Existing ALPs roles*

Athletes as fund raisers

Athletes as volunteers

Athletes as course instructors

Athletes as coaches or officials

Games management team members

Athletes on boards or committees

Global Messenger or reporter

Input Councils or Athlete Congress

Athletes as helpers or advocates

ALPs your role*So whats next?

What can you do?

Your role as an ATHLETE in ALPs*Look around at Special Olympics and see what people are doing. Are there things YOU would like to do?Talk to your County or ALPs Coordinator about different ways you can be involved.

Your role as an ATHLETE in ALPs*Be prepared to work hard and maybe study for your new role.Be brave and try new things!

Where to Start?*Set up a regular time for athletes to just sit and talk to staff and volunteers.

Find out what athletes think about the program and what they KNOW about the Special Olympics options available to them. (Knowledge is power!)

Where to Start?*Investigate existing Athlete Leadership Programs to see if they would benefit you or your local program.

Make a Show Me the ATHLETE sign to remind everyone to include athletes in everything we do in Special Olympics.

*Show me the ATHLETE!

Road blocks and barriersDo you think your new role will be clear sailing?

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Road blocks and barriers Others do not believe in you! Lack of training No self-respect Overcoming lack of knowledge Others say: No. You cannot do that.

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ALPs Input Councils*Governance in Action

Governance*INPUT COUNCILS

What are they?

Why have one?

Governance - Input Councils*Who should be involved?

Facilitator

Athlete leaders

Members

Governance Input Councils*Who should decide topics?

What follow-up is required?

*Part 3: YOUR Special Olympics Mission Statement

*Mission Statement class goalTo help you focus in on what you believe is the best way you can contribute to Special Olympics

*Mission StatementRoles in Special OlympicsView the Florida videoWe are an organization about change. Sport is our platform Vancouver, BC March 2011

*Mission Statement definition What you want to do Specific Empowers you (gives you the power)

*Special Olympics Mission Statement To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

*ALPsMission Statement To empower athletes to develop leadership skills and utilize their voices to assume meaningful leadership roles, influence change in the Special Olympics movement and educate communities around the world that results in positive life changes. ALPs Summit, Vancouver, BC -- March 2011

*A Personal Mission Statement I want to use my energies to enrich the lives of my spouse, my friends and those with intellectual disabilities. I want to be involved as a teacher to help athletes learn the fun and excitement of leadership through ALPs. I want to be involved in programs that will open new horizons for athletes to experience activities, friends and places they have never dreamed of.

*Getting to know YOU What are my greatest strengths? Examples: Good communicator, good mentor, friendly, good organizer What have been some of the happiest moments in my life? What things are the most important to me? How can I best contribute to Special Olympics?

Existing ALPs roles*

Athletes as fund raisers

Athletes as volunteers

Athletes as course instructors

Athletes as coaches or officials

Games management team members

Athletes on boards or committees

Global Messenger or reporter

Input Councils or Athlete Congress

Athletes as helpers or advocates

*A Few Sample Mission Statements Because Im good at organizing things, I want to be an assistant basketball coach so I can schedule the games, take care of the uniforms, and keep the scorebooks for competition. I want to go to schools and give speeches to recruit new athletes for Special Olympics. I want to start my own television show on cable TV so more people will know about Special Olympics.

*Whats NEXT? Figure out how to reach your goal. Talk to your county coordinator, coach, or someone who can help. Look at your Mission Statement DAILY or WEEKLY. Do NOT forget it because its too important! Lets share some of YOUR mission statements.

*???Athlete Leadership Programs

Athlete Leaders In Action At Summer Games VIP Dinner*

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BreakPlease return in 10 minutes!*

*Slide for adjusting zoom and focus of projector.This version first presented 2009 ALPs Summer; updated for Spring and Fall 2010, Spring 2011A new CVO section replaced the old CVO section in November 2010*(5 minutes)This is the name of the course. Introduction to Athlete Leadership. That basically means this is an introduction course to ALPs. Were going to try to teach you all you need to know to get started in Athlete Leadership. INTRODUCE YOURSELVES AS THE INSTRUCTORS!

Since you are here to learn, lets start with some knowledge!The round symbol is a sign of the 3-stage progression from down-trodden, which means being on the outside and not able to participate, to equality to joy through participation in sports. The 3 stages are represented by the 3 positions of the arms in the symbol. There are 5 symbols to represent the continents of the world where Special Olympics takes place; North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. All together, the logo is called Joy around the World.

If you dont understand anything we say, be sure to ASK QUESTIONS!!!

And in the handout you received at registration is a list of people you can call to ask questions of about ALPs. They are the ALPs Management Team in Indiana.

*This Introduction to Athlete Leadership is a combination of classes we have offered in the past. The ALPs Management team decided that all athletes beginning their leadership training should have the same comprehensive introduction. We wanted to be sure all athlete leaders have the necessary basic skills to be successful when they pursue their leadership opportunities with their local and area programs.

There are 3 parts for this training. The first part is an overview of ALPs. Well teach you some history and what ALPs is all about and why you might want to begin being a leader in Special Olympics. In part 2, well talk about how ALPs might help you and how you might help Special Olympics. In part 3, you will take all the knowledge youve gained and you will write your own personal mission statement as it pertains to Special Olympics.

Any questions about anything before we begin?**Weve introduced ourselves. Now wed like to get to know everyone in the room. Have the athlete introduce themselves and their mentor.*ALPs can anyone tell us what ALPs is or what ALPs stands for?Background: Started in 1997, Athlete Leadership Programming has grown from a single publicspeaking course (Athletes for Outreach) to become a cornerstone of the movement. Thisgrowth has been made possible by forcing a cultural shift in the movement from a focus onpity to one of respect for athletes, their experience and their potential. By design, ALPs hasalways been promoted as a management tool rather than a social justice vehicle. The idea wasthat Special Olympics Programs would be stronger if they were getting input from their coreconstituents concerning issues of governance, marketing, and management. While the benefitsof ALPs training have always been transferable to the life of the athlete in the community,those benefits have been considered bi-products of the ALPs program not its goal.-ALPs programming now has a strong but not universal following in the Special Olympicsmovement. People know what to say but frequently not how to act. With ALPs, not getting itresults in dull, unimaginative programming. Thus it tends not to be an emergency when it isnthappening. To date, ALPs has grown in places where an individual gets it and starts pushingfor inclusion of athletes leaders and ideas in new aspects of a Program.New Direction: The strategic plan calls for a shift from looking inward to looking outward tothe larger community in which our athletes live. Special Olympics and ALPs have proven tobe a strong force for our athletes, and now we are ready to embrace the potential that forcemight have in the communities where they live. That will require some adjustment in bothwhat we focus on in ALPs and how we deliver and support it. Where before we would activelyavoid issues of job training, literacy, or human rights issues because they were not part of theSpecial Olympics governance/management matrix, it is now time to allow and even encouragethe connection between these issues and an athletes development as a leader within ourmovement.Since the beginning of ALPs programming, I have warned people of a potential consequenceof ALPs. Dont ask questions that you dont want to know the answer to, or that you are notwilling to respond to. Athletes have been telling us for years that Special Olympics and ALPs isthe ONLY place where people believe in them and treat them as equals. They have long askedwhy we didnt work to make the rest of the world behave as people do in Special Olympics atALPs events. It looks as if we are ready to take our first, tentative steps toward addressing thatcall to action.Action to Date: Since the Global Congress ALPs leaders around the world have been takinginventory of their ALPs programs. Because funding has been scarce in recent years, mostPrograms have either dropped formal ALPs training and programs. This isnt entirely bad news.Even as training dropped off, they were able to include athletes as volunteers and advisors inmore informal ways.ALPs leaders have had the opportunity to share ideas through Kathryn Clark of what isworking and what is not. That led to the development of the 2011 plan of a new focus on ALPsUniversities (on the models used in 2002 in the US, and then in Indiana and Florida since then).Metrics have been defined, but the method for collecting them has not. This discussion is ongoingwith the development of the new PDS.Action Planned: We will convene a meeting of experienced ALPs trainers and programmers todiscuss the necessary shift in curricula and program implementation (date TBD but as soonas possible!) We will insure that ALL regions participate in those discussions and that ALPs is onthe agenda at ALL Regional meetings to begin the process of redefining ALPs in the field.Issues Still Developing: (Which will be major topics of the ALPS Summit in March 2011) Partnerships with other advocacy groups but keeping our brand so our athletes dontget lost in larger advocacy efforts. Balancing Programming demands with an expanded ALPs agenda with resourcesavailable at various levels of the movement. Sustainability in the field. The old ALPs model remains very personality driven. Howdo we craft an expanded ALPs agenda while at the same time establishing it as a coredeliverable of ALL Special Olympics Programs? Train-the-Trainer feasibility. There is a clear need to develop and maintain a global corps

*Started in 1997, Athlete Leadership Programming has grown from a single publicspeaking course (Athletes for Outreach) to become a cornerstone of the movement. Thisgrowth has been made possible by forcing a cultural shift in the movement from a focus onpity to one of respect for athletes, their experience and their potential. By design, ALPs hasalways been promoted as a management tool rather than a social justice vehicle. The idea wasthat Special Olympics Programs would be stronger if they were getting input from their coreconstituents concerning issues of governance, marketing, and management. While the benefitsof ALPs training have always been transferable to the life of the athlete in the community,those benefits have been considered bi-products of the ALPs program not its goal.-ALPs

*By design, ALPs has always been promoted as a management tool rather than a social justice vehicle. The idea was that Special Olympics Programs would be stronger if they were getting input from their core constituents concerning issues of governance, marketing, and management. While the benefits of ALPs training have always been transferable to the life of the athlete in the community, those benefits have been considered bi-products of the ALPs program not its goal.

**(10 minutes) Now that we know what ALPs stands for lets look at exactly what the definition of ALPs really is.*Choice may be new to some athletes. Choice might be something as simple as choosing which sport you want to do, or it might be choosing to take on a new challenge like becoming a coach or committee member. The key is that athlete choices and interests should be driving local, state, national and international strategic direction of the organization. Example: A decision on whether to add a new sport should be made based on athlete interest in that sport. Additions or deletion of events or activities at games should be decided based on athlete input and advice on the subject.

Prior to ALPs there was really only 1 ROLE for athletes in Special Olympics as an ATHLETE. Now that we have ALPs there are many roles that you can choose from to participate in Special Olympics. We will discuss those roles in a little bit.

PICK AN ATHLETE AND HELP TO STAND IN FRONT OF CLASS TO GIVE EXAMPLES OF CHOOSES THEY MAKE EVERYDAY.

**An example would be an Athlete Input Council, where a group of athletes comes together to suggest how to make Special Olympics better. A group just like this today could do something like that. Can someone give me an idea for making your SO better?

A group of athletes could get together on a regular basis and brainstorm like this and then take the best of the best ideas to your county coordinator. On a larger scale, Special Olympics International has held several Global Athlete Congresses. One of our Indiana athletes Brian Glick was the head of the first congress, which came up with Codes of Conduct for Athletes and Coaches. Indiana also had a representative at the 2005 Athlete Congress, Drew Metzger from Porter County. That Congress developed a Special Olympics Dating Policy. In June 2010, two Indiana athletes, Ken Melvin and Brent Bowgren, were among those attending the Third World Athlete Congress in Morocco. In addition, Brent and Ken attended the Global Leadership Congress that determined the Special Olympics International Strategic Plan for the next five years.

Other examples are coach mentoring programs, or policies about athlete representation on boards or committees. Athlete participation in the governance or delivery of Special Olympics wont just happen automatically. We need to be proactive in making opportunities that they are interested in.

PICK AN ATHLETE AND HELP TO STAND IN FRONT OF CLASS AND GIVE EXAMPLES OF MEANINGFUL POSITIONS OF INFLUENCE

**Training is important for both the athlete leader and the present volunteers and coaches who need to adjust meeting or leadership styles to make the new relationship productive. Athletes need to learn how meetings work and what is expected of them. Other leaders need to learn how to help mentor and alter meetings so that the athlete feels welcomed, safe and valued as a peer.

Todays training is designed to help you understand all the aspects of ALPs and how ALPs-trained athletes can help make your program great!

The definitions we just presented are on page 2 of your handout.PICK AN ATHLETE AND HELP TO STAND IN FRONT OF CLASS TO TELL WHY TRAINING IS SO IMPORTANT FOR COACHES, VOLUNTEERS AND PARENTS**So athletes, how do your mentors fit into ALPs?

*So athletes, how do your mentors fit into ALPs?

*So athletes, how do your mentors fit into ALPs?

*So athletes, how do your mentors fit into ALPs?

*This is Part 2 of Introduction to Athlete Leadership. *TALK ABOUT YOUR JOB AND HOW ALPS HELPS YOU.*TALK ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE GROWN THROUGH ALPS.*TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SKILLS

*****This is what we think of when we think of ALPs: meetings, public speaking, working on deciding the future of Special Olympics where we live.

Do you have any questions about ALPs so far?*(10 minutes) Ask the group to name as many as possible ALPs roles for athlete leaders and write a list of them on a easel.

Be sure to cover the following: athletes as volunteers, officials, coaches, on boards or committees, fundraisers; global messenger; input council; athlete congress; trainers in athlete workshops; writers; donors; employees.*Here are the various roles that athletes fill in the ALPs program. You already may have athletes serving in these roles in your area or program.

What would be great would be to fit what you love about Special Olympics (like I like to meet new people) with your role as an athlete leader (maybe what I should do is be a volunteer and do registration at an event where Id meet a lot of people).

(BE SURE TO THOROUGHLY EXPLAIN EACH OF THESE ROLES IN ALPs.) Especially focus on Governance and how important it is with Athlete Input and getting athletes access to boards and committees where they can express their opinions and take the lead in making changes in Special Olympics.

There is a list of ALPs roles in your handout on pages 2 and 3.

*Now you know what ALPs is about and the various ALPs program, whats next and what can you do?*Here are some things to do from the athletes perspective.*Many of the activities will be new to the athletes.

You must be prepared for some difficult challenges and probably even getting back to cracking some books!!

But the new experiences will be well worth the effort!

Heres a picture of Wes Hartwell and Scott Gross, both triple majors. They have worked very hard on ALPs and their efforts paid huge dividends. For example, Wes was selected as the ALPs Management Team Technology Coordinator. These represent significant training and meaningful roles in Special Olympics.*COVER THIS . . .

Information is very important for being a successful leader. Start teaching other athletes about ALPs and ask coaches and volunteers about their knowledge and experience with Special Olympics.

Find out about how divisioning is done or how athletes are selected to go on to State, National or world games.

Where funds come from and how they are spent to make Special Olympics happen in your program is also important information.*Talk to your Area or nearby counties to see if they have active Input Councils and how they got started. We will talk about Input Councils in greater detail later.

Call or e-mail the ALPs Management team members for assistance. See the handout from registration.

Hand out Show Me the athlete signs.*Make a sign like this for all your meetings.***(25 minutes) Of the various roles an athlete can take in Special Olympics, Governance may be one of the more difficult ones to understand but one of the most important. So lets talk a little more about governance and the concept of input councils. Much of governance is done through either Input Councils or committees and boards. All of these are organized meetings and resemble each other in many ways. There is an agenda, or a list of what is going to be talked about. There are minutes, or something that is written down to say what has gone on in the meeting. There can be officers and rules for how the meeting is to be run.

Were going to talk about Input Councils because that is probably where many of you will conduct much of your governance experience.*Script: How many of you have already attended your local programs input councils? Those of you who know all about input councils will cruise through the next several slides. Please let us know your ideas and what you do at your input council meetings where it might be different from what we present. For those of you who have not been to an input council, What are they? On the area or local level, this council is a forum for athletes to report to other athletes and county and area leaders what is happening, voice their opinions about important issues, and gain leadership training and experience. The council should focus on county or area issues but perhaps could also talk about issues at the state level.Why would you have an ALPs Input Council? Having an ALPs Input Council provides athletes opportunities to develop leadership skills, serve as volunteers, provide valuable input to the operation of Special Olympics, be role models for other athletes, and serve as ambassadors in the community. Having athletes involved in meaningful ways conveys how much we respect and value them as an integral part of our organization. It also gives program leaders like your county coordinator and coaches valuable insight into what interests and motivates athletes in your county. This insight will help us develop programs that will attract new athletes and retain existing athletes.*The ALPs Input Council at each level of the organization will have the best results if there is a volunteer who will guide and facilitate the ALPs program. This person could be a coach, volunteer, speech coach or other individual who would be interested in supporting this group. It could be the mentor that you have at this class. It could also be your counties ALPs coordinator. The role of the facilitator is to be just that, a facilitator. One thing that a facilitator does is to provide the structure and safety for athletes to express their opinions, brainstorm for ideas, and formulate ideas for possible solutions. The facilitator needs to be aware of issues that concern both program administrators and athletes. Any volunteer, including the ALPs Facilitator, will need to have a volunteer registration form on file. This allows us to best recognize volunteers and ensure the safety of our athletes. Leadership is a key component in the Input Council. To maintain the integrity of the ALPs programs we must select athletes who demonstrate leadership qualities. This does not mean that the athletes all have to be high functioning, just that they are willing to take on a role as a leader. Some of the selection requirements that should be considered are:The athlete must be actively involved as a Special Olympics athlete, coach or official. The athlete should be involved year round in competition so that they are familiar with the various programs and competitions in your area. Athlete must be able to communicate effectively. They should demonstrate adequate expressive and receptive language skills. This could include non-verbal communication methods such as sign language or effective use of other communication assistive devices. Athlete should demonstrate appropriate behaviors; i.e. gets along with others, has positive outlook, is dependable, will come to meetings and be on time, and demonstrates polite behaviors and good sportsmanship.Athlete must be able to attend Input Council meetings on a consistent basis.Athletes should be at least 16 years old or older. Deciding who the leader, or chair, will be can be done several ways, including an election or selection by the county board or area management team. Deciding the members can be done the same way. Once the committees are in operation, the athlete members of the ALPs Council can review and vote on new members, or determine how athlete selections will be made. *Who should decide topics? Topics can come from the top the area or county coordinator or from athletes on the Council or athletes who have talked with Council members.The whole point of bringing an ALPs Input Council together is to hear athlete ideas and opinions. If there are decisions that need to be made and the staff or volunteers in charge of those decisions want to hear athlete opinion on the subject, they should be encouraged to bring the issue to an Input Council meeting.Many times athletes generate their own ideas. If the Input Council comes across an issue that the members are in agreement on and that involves a policy or practice change on the part of those who are in charge of Special Olympics, then the council can write a recommendation for review of the policy and ask for an answer from the county coordinator.

The goal of ALPs is to establish an environment where athletes, volunteers and staff members all work together as equals to improve Special Olympics. The dialogue that takes place when these recommendations are made is a sign of a strong program.

What follow up is required? Regular reports should be made by the Input Council to the area or county. Copies of these reports should be kept on file for future reference. At the end of each year and certainly before any strategic planning takes place, these reports should be reviewed to help evaluate progress to date and to set goals for the immediate and long-term advancement of the program.

On pages 4-6, youll find out more about Input Councils, including a Sample Agenda and Sample Operating Procedures.

*This is Part 3 of Introduction to Athlete Leadership. We will develop YOUR Special Olympics Mission statement.

*(5 minutes)Now were going to discuss what a mission statement is and what it can do for you. Were going to go through a process for you to learn about yourself and what you really want to do in Special Olympics. One of the things weve found since we started Athlete Leadership training is that many athletes want to do everything. You see the list of possibilities and say yes, I want to be a coach, I want to be on an Input Council, I want to be a member of my county board, I want to write a newsletter, I want to give speeches.When youve been doing sports in the past, you might have had the same approach in the beginning. You tried them all. But then you found out you didnt have the time to devote to getting good at all the sports, so you concentrated on a smaller number. You found out what your strengths were, what really made you happy, what was most important to you.In the same way were going to look at the opportunities for athlete leaders and help you focus in on what you ultimately feel is the best way you can contribute to Special Olympics.

*(10 minutes)To help you get a feel for what roles are available to Athlete Leaders in Special Olympics, we want to share a video from Florida.** Although some of their programs are a bit different than ours, it is the one other state in the whole country that has an ALPs University and does the extensive training that we do here in Indiana they dont have as many classes as we do, but they do have some outstanding athlete leaders that we have gotten to know through various committees and meetings.

Any questions? People may ask about the Congress; Mary Ellen can explain Congress from Morocco. ** it in the ALPs Florida folder under sub-folder Resources (.mov file)

*(10 minutes)Very simply, a mission statement is what you want to be and do in your life what you want to accomplish, what contributions you want to make. Having a mission statement helps you set goals and make decisions and it helps you decide how best to spend your time.A mission statement is specific. It would not be something general like I want to be an athlete leader but something specific like I want to be a softball official for Special Olympics.What a mission statement will do is empower you to take the next step in athlete leadership. Our example before is I want to be a softball official for Special Olympics. Knowing that is what you want to do can lead you to take the steps necessary to reach that goal.

Lets look at some sample Mission Statements.*This is the registration handout along with the mission statements for ALPs and for ALPs University.

This is a great example of a mission statement for an organization. It says what Special Olympics wants to do in its life. Its going to provide sports training and competition. Its very specific. The program is for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. It empowers the organization to do what its set out to do.

If you want to learn to type or fly a kite, you dont need to go to Special Olympics. That is not what its about. Its about sports. Its about physical fitness. Its about sharing gifts, skills and friendship.

In the Athlete Leadership Program especially, all of you are sharing your gifts and skills with others as a Global Messenger, you spread the word about Special Olympics and how its changed and empowered your life. As a board or committee member, you work to make Special Olympics better for all athletes. As a coach or official, you share the sports skills you have with others.

*This is the ALPs mission statement developed at the ALPs Summit in Vancouver, British Columbia by athletes and non-athletes in March 2011.

*This is part of someones personal mission statement as it relates to Special Olympics. It says what they want to do in their life. Its specific. They want to be a teacher, not a coach or official. They want to be involved in other programs, such as ALPs, that will open new horizons for athletes. This statement empowers them to do what they want to do in Special Olympics. Does it say anything that they want to raise funds? No. Thats not what they want to do in Special Olympics; other people may have that as their mission. It empowers them to do the things they want and even say no to things they dont really want to do because they are not as important to them.

*(20 minutes) On your page 7 you have a set of four questions that you and your mentor will work on answering. Think about other athletes and answer about yourself when you look at yourself in relation to others. Again, be sure to think about these questions and fill out the answers honestly. Your mentor can do whatever you need to get the answers to these questions:

Your answers to these questions will give you some excellent input for writing your own mission statement. For example, if one of your strengths is being a good communicator, maybe the best way you can contribute is to write articles for an ALPs newsletter. Or maybe its your verbal communication thats best, so you could give speeches.

If one of the happiest times of your life was when you won a gold medal at World Games, then maybe youd want to share your knowledge of your sport as a coach or assistant coach.

Lets take about 20 minutes to work on these questions.*Now, before we get down to the next exercise of answering some questions about yourself, I want to review the various initiatives that make up the ALPs program.

There is a list of all the ALPs roles in your handout on pages 2 and 3.

*(35 minutes)Now we are going to complete page 8 of your handout. Look back at the questions you have already filled out. These can help you sort out what youre good at, what you really like to do, how you can contribute. Remember, it doesnt need to be perfect. It doesnt need to be any certain length: It is a statement of what you what to be, what you want to do in Special Olympics.Lets look at a few simple samples from past students in this class.

Now, based on your answers to the 4 questions you should decide on your MAJOR interest in athlete leadership and CIRCLE what you are MOST interest in doing. Remind them what the different majors are and what they would do as athlete leaders with this major. Remember that you might decide to do another major later, but you need to decide what comes first.

Work on your mission statement with your mentor.*(30 minutes)Okay! You have a mission statement. You know what you want to do in Special Olympics. Whats most important for you to do now is to follow up on this. I look at my mission statement at least once a week and see what Im doing to make sure that I am doing what I want to not what others are making me do. Its probably going to take some work to fulfill that mission statement. I didnt just write down that I wanted to be a coach and the next day go out and have people start lifting weights. To be a coach, I had to make some decisions on what I wanted to coach. I had to get trained and certified. I had to find athletes who wanted to participate in the sport there are a lot of things to do from here.Maybe we can hear some of the mission statements, and share with each other some ideas on how you can achieve that. Would someone like to read theirs? (Give a prize to the first one who gets up.) What do you think you need to do so you can fulfill your mission statement? What are some ideas from others on what he/she needs to do?

KEEP YOUR MISSION STATEMENT HANDY! MAKE SEVERAL COPIES OF IT! PUT A COPY ON THE REFRIGERATOR, IN THE BATHROOM, WHERE EVER YOU CAN KEEP IT TO REMIND YOU WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO!

*Do you have any questions about Athlete Leadership Programs?Jessica CrookJennifer HooverAllie WerneMary McClamroch (state office athlete staff)**Here are some photos from ALPs University from last year.**