7000-206 SPORT: SPORT CONFERENCE COMPETITIONS AND PROVINCIAL QUALIFIERS
Review Date: February 2021
Effective Date: February 2021
Sport Conference Competitions
Athletes must be a minimum of 8 years of age to attend a Sport Conference competition / Provincial Qualifier.
Sport Conference Competitions are open to all athletes who are actively training in the sport to be contested at the competition. Each Sport Conference is required to have a minimum
of one competition per sport per year. Conference designations will be determined by SOO and distributed prior to the start of the sport season to all sport clubs. During qualifying years, the Sport Conference competition may be hosted in conjunction with the Provincial Qualifier.
Provincial Qualifiers
All registered sports programs will be assigned to a designated conference prior to the start of each sport season. Each sport conference will host a Provincial Qualifier, in qualifying years, which all of the assigned sports programs must attend to be eligible to advance to Provincial Games.
Provincial Qualifiers must include a divisioning round which can occur either on or before the Provincial Qualifier (within 30 days prior to the qualifier). The team roster must remain the same for both the preliminary round and the Provincial Qualifier. Teams must attend both the preliminary round and the Provincial Qualifier to be eligible for selection to Provincial Games.
Due to SOO’s mandate to host a Sport Conference Competition and/or a Provincial Qualifiers per sport per year, SOO will cover any reasonable shortfall of funds. The Competition Host must submit a budget to SOO two months prior for approval and submit actual figures once the competition is complete. SOO will not cover any shortfall over and above the original budget’s deficit.
Hosting a Sport Conference Competition and Provincial Qualifier
The Provincial Sport Convenor and Conference Convenor for each Conference will host a Sport Conference Call prior to the start of the sport season. Each club can have one coach attend the call. A schedule for the upcoming season will be set and a Sport Conference Competition / Provincial Qualifier Host shall be determined from among the Coaches. Competitions are hosted by a Sport Club (Coach), under the guidance of the Sport and Conference Convenors who are responsible for ensuring that the organization and quality of the competition meets the standards of Special Olympics Ontario.
Every club shall receive registration information for the Sport Conference Competition / Provincial Qualifier. Every registered athlete must be given the opportunity to participate in the annual Sport Conference Competition/Provincial Qualifier, regardless of age or ability. Adapt athletes do not advance to Provincial Games therefore Adapt events may or may not be offered at a Provincial Qualifier.
It is strongly recommended that all Sport Conference Competitions/Provincial Qualifiers are held in the final month of the season to allow athletes ample training time. Sport Conference Competitions/Provincial Qualifiers must use trained/qualified officials. All officials need to be certified by the sport governing body. All minor officials must be trained. Refer to the competition host manual for a list of officials needed for competition.
Athletes Absent from Provincial Qualifying Competition
Athletes who are unable to attend the Provincial qualifying competition are ineligible to advance to Provincial Games. Athletes will have the opportunity to appeal by submitting an appeal application to the Sport and Competition Team. The decision of the Appeals Committee will be final and no further appeals will be considered.
Please refer to the Pan Canadian Appeal Policy for the Appeal Process.
Sport Technical
Sport Conference Competitions shall be conducted in accordance with the official rules as established by SOO, and is recommended to use a final Divisioning process. The Sport Conference competition shall include all official SOO events within that sport and offer competitive ADAPT Sports events if applicable.
Provincial Qualifiers shall be conducted in accordance with the official rules established by SOO. Provincial Qualifiers shall use divisioning based on Policy 7000-200 Divisioning Policy.
Upon completion of the Provincial Qualifier, the competition host shall submit the official results (game sheets/heat sheet format/generic sport result forms) from the Provincial Qualifier to the Competition Developer within one month of the event.