Special Olympics Pennsylvania Armstrong/Indiana Counties

RIP!!!

Pelé was the beautiful game’s mighty but humble king. He was also a joyous hero to our Special Olympics athletes, and an embodiment of everything that is great about sport. Rest in peace, .

It is with deep sadness that we share that our longtime friend and one of our proudest supporters, Franco Harris has passed away. While many know him for his outstanding career in the National Football League, specifically his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers – during which he was named MVP of Super Bowl IX and later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame – at Special Olympics Pennsylvania, Franco was family.

Franco’s passion for uplifting Special Olympics' mission of inclusion and respect never wavered since he first got involved with our organization more than a decade ago. He was a member of Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Executive Advisory Board, has donated considerable financial support, spoken at many special events, volunteered for the organization in and around the Pittsburgh and State College communities, as well as served as the Official Race Starter of the Beaver Stadium Run since its inception in 2010. Additionally, he was the first recipient of the Beaver Stadium Run Community Hero Award in 2013.

Franco’s commitment to Special Olympics and our mission spanned far beyond time and financial contributions. His love and passion for sport drove him to share that love with Special Olympics athletes around the state. Franco made a point to congratulate every participant as they “Finish at the Fifty” of Beaver Stadium for the Run, shared countless moments with athletes, and inspired all of us with his grace and kindness.

Franco was a remarkable athlete, businessman, supporter, and friend. His humility, enthusiasm and kindness will truly be missed by all of our athletes, volunteers, staff and event participants. We send our deepest condolences to his wife Dana, his son Dok, the rest of his family, and the many around the world who loved him.

Due to the cancellation this past Sunday...Snowshoeing is officially starting this Sunday, December 11th at 3 PM!

ALL ATHLETES SIGNED UP FOR SNOWSHOEING!!
First practice is this Sunday December 4th, 2022! ❄️Join THE SOAI group for more information!

It's Giving Tuesday!

Special Olympics Armstrong/Indiana Counties is part of the Three Rivers Region! Please support the program by donating at this link! This ensures we can continue to offer many sports, provide uniforms and equipment, and host all of our competitions to all athletes at no cost! Anything is truly appreciated! https://give.specialolympicspa.org/give/389059/#!/donation/checkout

Have you ever had questions about your child's IEP document?
Would it be helpful to walk through the document with the opportunity to ask questions along the way?

Join us at the Arc for the monthly Parents with Purpose/Local Task Force Meeting!
Child Care provided with Verified Volunteers, Sheetz gas cards to assist with travel costs, and light snacks will be available.

Kim Rode, Special Education Director of the ARIN IU 28, will guide us through the IEP document, simplifying it in plain language and answering questions.
Goal: To navigate and better understand the IEP document.

Location: 120 N. 5th Street Indiana, Pa 15701 - The Arc of Indiana Co.
When: Meeting Date Change due to Holiday: November 29, 2022
Time: 6:30 PM
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84332272413?pwd=THplc0gremFVVkJSK0RPQU4xUDhQZz09

Huge thank you to all of our coaches and volunteers for making this possible! WooHoo!

More Fall Fest Villinova Pictures! Thanks Villinova for all your support!

Villinova Fall Fest 2022 was a blast, check out these pictures! Our athletes completed against the best in the state and did awesome! So proud of all of our atheletes!

Fall Festival 2022 is Here! We are taking 21 athletes and 10 volunteers this year!!! This weekend (November 4-6), Special Olympics Pennsylvania will be returning to Villanova University’s campus for the 34th annual Fall Festival! With the theme of “Rooted Together, We Grow Even Better,” Fall Festival will welcome nearly 1,600 athletes, coaches, and Unified Partners representing 39 Pennsylvania county programs. Individuals and teams will be competing in bocce, long-distance running/walking, powerlifting, roller skating, soccer, volleyball, and for the first time, flag football.

In October we had a local competition as well as you Kickball game with the IUP sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha, and other students too! Everyone did great at competition and the kickball game was a blast! Thank you everyone for your support for our athletes!

Girls from Alpha Sigma Alpha came to Bark for the Arc with a Winterfest table on behalf of Special Olympics! Thanks, girls!

Reminder BOCCE is this Saturday 11 AM - 1 PM with a pizza party!! At the White Township, Complex bocce courts behind the S&T Arena up the road on the left all the way to the top of the hill!
Call Coach Michelle with any questions!

Who's down for a game of kickball?!
Come support Armstrong/Indiana Special Olympics by participating in a kickball game with Alpha Sigma Alpha and other IUP sororities and fraternities at the IUP CO-OP Park on October 19, 4 PM - 6 PM!
Call Michelle Jordan at 814-441-7981 if you'd like to participate!

On Sunday we took 29 Armstrong/Indiana Athletes and 10 Volunteers to Slippery Rock University for the Fall competition! Many of them have never been to a competition before! Everyone did such a great job competing even though Mother Nature wasn't happy and it poured! Brooks Shuster and Robert Burkhart walked with the flame for the opening ceremony and Riley Boston and Virginia Gray carried the Armstrong/Indiana Banner. Up next is Villanova! Are you excited?!

On Sunday September 11, 2022, even in the rain, Special Olympic Athletes & community members raced in the Community Inclusive 5K at the Hoodlebug Trail. Ryan took first place with a time of 29 minutes! Everyone did great and we hope to bring everyone back plus more and make this an annual event.
Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported the event!

Community Inclusive 5k is still on! Just bring your rain jacket! 9 AM -12 PM with lunch for the athletes and prizes for everyone! Hope to see you here!

This Sunday! 9 AM - 12 PM
Water & small prizes are provided for everyone and lunch is provided for Armstrong/Indiana Special Olympic Athletes!
Hope to see you there!

UPDATE: NO MORE SPOTS LEFT
Registration is LIVE!
Hurry up and Register to get your spot!
The first 10 to register will get a kit.
go to www.arcindiana.org to register

On September 11, 2022, as part of the running and walking training for competitions, we will be having a 5K Race on the Hoodlebug Trail in Indiana, PA. This will start at 9:30 AM. This is a small-scale event but the community is invited to join the athletes, coaches, and volunteers.

Fall 2022 Indiana and Armstrong Co. Training/Competition Schedule

Attention all Armstrong/Indiana Athletes, Coaches, and Volunteers!!!
Attached is the link for the SOAI Calendar. Refer to it for all upcoming practices, competitions, events, and other special dates.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URceb1BqKtv1ZhDdRzJX77KSBDi_fDE8QQQOHtBHx4g/edit?usp=sharing

Fall 2022 Indiana and Armstrong Co. Training/Competition Schedule FALL Indiana Counites Training/Competition Schedule August 2022 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Management Team meeting Zoom 6 pm 9 10 11 Coach...

Attention all Armstrong/Indiana Special Olympic athletes!
Friday, August 12, 2022, from 4 PM - 8 PM we are having a POOL PARTY! 🥳 Located at the Belmont Pool in Kittanning.
Registration is required - see the athlete letter or programming email on how to register.
Also, there is only a short period of time for everyone to complete the COVID-19 waivers, so PLEASE get that finished. If you need more information about the waivers contact Michelle at 814-441-7981.
The Pool Party, Bocce, and long-distance running/walking have a waiver that will need to be completed.😎

😁😁😁😁😁

OH BABY!!! There are officially 100 days until the best weekend of the year!! HERE WE GO! 🕺😎✌🏻

We are so grateful for our Community Partners! This month The Knights of Columbus of Indiana raised over 4,000 dollars for our local program this month! This gift will go toward new sports programming this fall, training venue costs and uniforms. All our training and competing is provided cost-free to all our staff and athletes paid for by donations just like this! Bless you Knights!!

Summer Games 2022!!

Summer Games photo drop! 19 athletes and 10 volunteers from Armstrong Indiana Counties traveled to State College this weekend. The athletes not only did their best they truly excelled!! We are so so so proud of the dedication and sportsmanship these athletes exhibited!We want to thank Penn State for having us and SOPA for an amazing event!! Everyone had a blast!! We could not have done it without the volunteers and coaches keeping everyone fed, safe, and making sure they were on time for their event! You are all truly awesome ❣❣❣❣ I will add more pics as they come in.

Please share 😊

A Produce Distribution will be held on Saturday, June 4th from 1-3pm at the current Food Bank warehouse located at 1849 S 6th St.

Please do not come early - you may be turned away.

Special Olympics returns to in-person competition

Lovely article in the Indiana Gazette today! :) We celebrate every one of you!!!

Special Olympics returns to in-person competition Athletes from Armstrong and Indiana counties came together Saturday for the first time since the start of the pandemic and competed in the Special Olympics local athletics (track and field)

Announcement: Athlete Zoom Social Hour has been canceled for this Thursday night May 26 at 7pm. The program will be sending out Summer Games information tonight to athletes, volunteers, and caregivers. Please contact Michelle Jordan if there are questions or talk to your coach this weekend at our final training. All athletes going to Summer Games need to attend training this weekend rain or shine or talk to your coach prior if you are not able to attend. Athlete Social Hour will be off for the Summer and we look to be back on the 4th Thursday in September. :)

Zoom Social Hour is this Thursday, May 26 at 7pm! We hope you are able to attend to chat with everyone! 😃
Click on the link to attend! https://us05web.zoom.us/join
Please join the SOAI Sports group to have access to the meeting ID and passcode! 😃

We are so thankful for our Community Partners and Sponsors like S & T Bank. S & T, not only donated to our Local Competition this weekend but also volunteered to work with the athletes at the event this year. From left to right Michelle Jordan, Program Manager and Crystal Mimis, Vice President, Director of Retail Operations.

Amazing students, amazing volunteers!!!

On Saturday, May 21st athletes from Armstrong and Indiana counties came together for the first time since the start of the pandemic and competed in the local athletics (track and field) competition at the Armstrong High school track in Kittanning. The 40 athletes that competed were buddied up with athletes and students from the Armstrong high school: clubs, cheerleading squad, and football team. Everyone involved had an amazing time celebrating the joys of competition and friendship. The program would like to send out a sincere thank you to Coach Frank Fabin and the River Hawks football players, River Hawks cheerleading squad, student volunteers, the Armstrong area Veterans Color guard, Athlete Jenny Hellein for singing the National Anthem, our local program volunteers, community volunteers, Sheriff Bob Fyock, Sheriff Frank Pitzer, and Trooper Cliff Greenfield for assisting with the medal ceremony. This event could not have happened without everyone's time and effort making it a successful and a much memorable experience. We can't wait for next year!

Ryan Johnson David O Conner Jared Vought Cecilia Mullen. 😁 So proud if our athletes, representing the concerns of the disability community with our local legislators.

Today at the Arc of Indiana County several of our community self-advocates who are also Special Olympics Athletes joined in on a zoom Legislation meeting with Representatives Jim Struzzi and Brian Smith to discuss and share their stories related to employment, Direct Support Professionals/Home and Community Bases Services and Hate Crime Protections. They did a phenomenal job and we truly are grateful for their time today to share their story! Right to left, Self Adovates, Cecilia Mullen, Jared Vought, Ryan Johnson Executive Director Michelle Jordan and Self Advocate David O'Conner. We also want to thank Mr. Struzzi and Mr. Smith for their time and eagerness to listen and validate these important issues and concerns.

Heads up! SOCIAL EVENT
All are welcome! Come join us for a series of theatre workshops taught by Eve Urban located at The Arc of Indiana County!

We are so excited about our first local track and field competition since May of 2019!! We are in need of one-day volunteers to buddy with the athletes for the event, volunteers to assist with opening ceremonies, awards and the various track and field events, like timing, measurements and so on! May 21st 9-12 at the Armstrong High School Track, 300 Buffington Dr., Kittanning. We also invite anyone to come and experience the joy of our athletes and cheer them on, they love an audience!! 😁❤

Our athletes competed at the Western Spring Sectional at Carnegie Mellon University on April 30. We took 17 athletes, who excelled and had an amazing time!! We are excited for our upcoming local Spring Competition on May 21st from 9-12 at the Armstrong High School track in Kittanning. Come out and celebrate our athletes!!