THE Special Olympics Ireland Volunteer Awards 2024 were held on September 14th in Dublin.
The awards are a celebration and recognition of the tireless, amazing work of volunteers that makes Special Olympics programmes and missions possible.
The winner of the 2024 award was Owen Kelly from Goleen and the sun shone as representatives travelled to West Cork to present Owen with his award.
Owen’s children also travelled down from various locations in Ireland to be with their dad on the occasion, which made it even more special.
‘Owen epitomises all that is good about volunteer coaches within Special Olympics’ said Shaun Hennessy, regional development officer for sports, Munster. ‘His commitment in assisting athletes to become the best that they can has been evident in his coaching of table-tennis within Special Olympics and the wider community. The impact of this is immeasurable, be it as a coach with Co-Action in West Cork, as head coach for several Special Olympics Munster squads, and a particular highlight of his, as head coach for Team Ireland at the 2007 World Games in Shanghai.’
Shaun explained how Owen’s sports and coaching knowledge knows no bounds. ‘He is always willing to share, educate, learn and philosophise with anyone who is eager to engage. As competition manager for countless table-tennis competitions, he has introduced processes to enhance divisioning, ensuring fair competition for all, has trained up and supported umpires, and overall improved the quality of competition for hundreds of athletes. Interestingly, Owen has also taken some of Special Olympics processes and applied them to local schools’ competitions, divisioning school kids based on their ability rather than what class they are in, to great effect.’
Owen was delighted to receive the award and said: ‘Being involved in Special Olympics as an organisation has given me so much joy and pleasure and I genuinely feel that I have received far more than I have given. I am honoured and humbled to receive this award on behalf of so many volunteers who give freely of their time, making the lives of others better.’
Special Olympics Ireland is starting a Young Athletes club in Skibbereen that will cater for four to twelve-year-olds with an intellectual disability. They are currently recruiting volunteers to fill the club management team roles of chairperson, secretary, safeguarding officer, head coach and general volunteers. There will be an online information meeting on Wednesday October 30th at 7.30pm. To register contact Mairéad O’Driscoll on 085-8544137 or email [email protected].
