Family Member: an individual who is the husband, wife, partner or child of the athlete; a blood relative of the athlete (mother, father, sister, brother, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew); a partner of a blood relative; or an individual who serves as the athlete’s legal guardian, foster parent, carer or is involved with the athlete in a parenting role.
Every Family member attending the Games who wishes to avail of Family Services at the Leicester Games must register with the Special Olympics Games Office prior to the 31st May 2009.
All Special Olympics events are open to the public free of charge so anyone can attend as a spectator. However, accreditation will be available for family members which will enable families to have access to family centres and family specific activities during the Games together with concessionary travel around Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland. You must register with the Special Olympics Games Office to get an accreditation pass.
Any family member now wishing to register will need to visit the Games Information Centre at the Games Village at Walkers Stadium which is open from Sunday, 26th July 2009 from 0800 onwards to obtain an accreditation pass or to amend details on existing passes.
Parents of competing athletes and family members of the athletes will be offered free access to all sporting venues during Special Olympics GB National Summer Games Leicester 2009.
By registering with the Games Company in Leicester, parents and direct family members will receive accreditation passes that will allow:
- Free access to the Opening Ceremony
- Free access to all sporting venues
- Access to the parents and families centre where daily programmes, results, assistance and a cup of tea/coffee will be made available
- Information bulletins
Family members who have any queries regarding the Special Olympics GB National Summer Games Leicester 2009 should in the first instance contact the Games Office by Emailing: families@sol2009.com or by telephoning: 0116 238 5000
Most Special Olympics Groups and Regions have a Family Co-ordinator that you can contact if you have any questions.
At the sports venues there will be information stands and family centres where family members can go to get information about the sports schedules as well as other relevant general information.
Until the classifications have been completed it will not be possible to inform anyone as to the exact day or time of competitions. Classifications will be taking place on Sunday, 26th July but for some sports there may still be classifications taking place on Monday, 27th July. Once classifications have been completed, each Head Coach will be given information regarding competition times. For family members and the general public they will be able to obtain the competition times at the general information points and family centres at the sports venues as soon as it is available.
In order to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone, the general public and families will not have direct access to athletes during the Games. Family members will however be able to request time with their athletes through the Regional Head Coach for each sport. Please remember that each coach/escort will have a duty of care for more than one athlete and so this may not always be possible to arrange.
At some venues, where possible, there will be family hospitality areas where families can go to have light refreshments – tea, coffee etc. This will be for family members only and family members will need to show their accreditation in order to access this facility (see below re accreditation). Closer to the Games information will be available on what catering facilities are available at each venue. In some instances there may not be on-site catering services so you might need to bring a lunch with you to the venue. More information in this regard will also be communicated to you prior to the Games.
The Opening Ceremony will take place at the Walkers Stadium (home of Leicester City Football Club). There will be a requirement for those attending to have tickets for the Ceremony. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony will be FREE to family members who have registered with the Games Office by 31st May 2009 and will be posted out direct to them at the end of June.
It is planned to have a social evening for family members during the Games week. For this event numbers will be limited so families will need to apply for tickets and there will be a maximum number of tickets available per family. As soon as the venue has been confirmed, families will be notified of how to apply for tickets.
Whilst Special Olympics Leicester does not provide (or pay for) accommodation for family members we have endeavoured to gather information on accommodation that you might find useful. Click here to link to accommodation information
