Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) is very excited to announce that the planning for the 2024 Provincial Spring Games is now underway. We are very proud to have the Waterloo Regional Police Service, led by newly inducted Chief Mark Crowell, taking the helm, once again, to host the games. In addition, Wilfred Laurier University will be returning to partner with us as the host site for the Games. We expect the 2024 Provincial Spring Games will bring some much needed excitement back to Waterloo Region and to the athletes and coaches of Special Olympics Ontario.
Over the past two years, there have been many questions about the 2024 Spring Games, especially around the athlete identification process. The announcement in 2020 to cancel the Spring Games really hit hard with athletes and coaches as they were left with the unsettled feeling of not being able to compete at the competition they were training so hard for. Then to have everything put on hold for many, many months really impacted our members. Special Olympics Ontario has given it great thought as to how we would proceed with the athlete and coach identification process for the 2024 Games. We are also very happy to announce that the athletes and coaches who were identified to attend the 2020 Spring Games will have the first right of refusal to be identified for the 2024 Spring Games. Within the next week, an email communication will be sent to the 2020 athletes and coaches with further instructions for attending the 2024 Games.
We also recognize that there are many athletes who have continued to train hard through the pandemic. We want to ensure those athletes are also given the opportunity to continue on their journey to attend a Spring Provincial Games. As a result, we will be making adjustments to the quota to give additional athletes an opportunity to be identified for the 2024 Provincial Spring Games. We are uncertain how many additional athlete quota spots will be available until we know how many athletes from 2020 will be attending. It is possible that additional quota spots will not be available for all sports, all conferences or all districts. To ensure transparency in the quota allocation process, we have enlisted the help of a volunteer advisory committee to ensure equitable distribution of any additional quota spots.
Please refer to the SOO Games Website to learn more about the quota allocation and athlete identification process for the 2024 Provincial Spring Games. Should you have any questions, please contact games@specialolympicsontario.com.