Hello from Bozemans newest Special Olympics Young Adults Team!! My name is Molly Ulvin. I am the parent of a loving special needs son,Tristan, and I will be spearheading this new venture - Montanas (and Bozemans) newest Special Olympics Team - the Bozeman Jedis!! Officially, I am the LPC (Local Program Coordinator) for the Bozeman Jedis but I am also volunteering to be a fellow coach;-) I will explain in more detail the workings of this new team below but first I must say I am both excited and nervous to take over the baton from Joey Hancock! Joey has done an amazing job supporting, coaching, engaging, in general, creating a fun atmosphere for our junior special needs kids to train and compete in. The goal is to continue to build on his wonderful work as all of his Hawk athletes will eventually become Jedis themselves. I have my work cut out for me to match his level of accomplishment and could use all the help I can get to create something as special for our young adults. As of now, Bozemans current adult Special Olympics team, the Bozeman Flames, is full. Though they would love to include everyone, they are a parent based volunteer organization that has grown in numbers to the point that it will be difficult to manage new athletes. The Flames are an older based age group of athletes which have trained and competed together many years. They have been and are a huge success with adults athletes and their families sharing in many on the field and off the field activities. They have become an Olympic family with close knit ties to each other - fabulous!! The time has come to establish a new young adults team - a new generation of athletes that will be teammates and support and cheer each other on throughout the years. It is my sincere hope that this team will be the foundation for something special in our children's lives and in our lives as well. It is a wonderful opportunity to build our own Special Olympics family - together;-) This is an initial letter of introduction and one that has as its goal to get the message out - the JEDIS are ready to start up. We are now accepting athletes and are setting up team events for this coming year. Volunteer coaches are being found, uniforms and equipment being purchased, fund raising is in progress, and practice venues are being booked. There is a great deal of initial work to be done and set in place. As this team is in its startup phase, we will be sending out much needed information packets these next couple weeks - including paperwork that must be completed for the athletes to be able to participate. The Montana Special Olympics organization is a very professional and protective organization - for good reason. The paperwork you will need to fill out is an attest to its commitment to shield athletes from unnecessary harm or injury. The events that the Bozeman Jedis will be participating in this year will include: bowling (August/September), Basketball (September/November), Soccer and Track and Field (April). We will be competing in both the Big Sky Area Games (local) and the State Championships. Practices for these events will start between 4-6 weeks before the championships. It is my goal to meet up twice every week to practice but this may be difficult (especially our first year due to initial costs) and will depend quite honestly on financing. All teams are run solely on volunteer basis and Montana Special Olympics is not a contributor to funding teams. In fact, every athlete and coach (and unified partner) has a cost of participation in the Area and Championship games that must be covered independently. As all Special Olympic teams are free of charge for athletes, this leaves each individual Special Olympics Team with a fundraising challenge. No problem - once we get our steam up, I am confident that we can raise the money needed but we have our work cutout to find sponsors and ways of raising funds. I will say that we already have a generous sponsor - Engel & Volkers (Big Sky Division - Realestate). They are an excellent real estate company and a proud champion of Special Olympics nation wide. A big shout out to Bozeman's Engel and Volkers for engaging in our community in such a positive way! It is a great start but we are in need of sponsors no matter how big and small so please reach out to me if you know of anyone or organization that might be interested. Our motto is: “Be the Force” - we will need to be this to make this team great;-) Our son, Tristan, loves to participate in Special Olympics organized activities - the practices and competitions enrich his life (and ours) in so many positive ways that not attending is not an option;-). I imagine every other athlete and family is touched in a similar way. If your son or daughter is not particularly interested in one activity, let me suggest signing him up for the next upcoming activity or maybe even trying the activity to see if there might be a sudden change of heart. Also, assistants are needed so if your son or daughter is not sure about competing, maybe participate as an assistant (bases on qualification). The first event of the upcoming Special Olympics season is bowling. We are going to start up practice the second week in August (the day and time will be set shortly). Anyone wishing to participate as a bowling Jedi - please reply to this email. Equally important, any athlete wanting to join our team, we would love to have you!! If you are unsure - reach out anyway as to be a Jedi is be in a special sports family;-) All Jedi parents - join the fun and be a coach or special supporter;-). Lastly, spread the news! Feel free to send this email to anyone who would be interested - athlete, family member, very cool friend wanting to experience something special and unique (as a participant or assistant coach or unified partner). May the force be with you Molly Molly Ulvin Special Olympics Local Program Coordinator Bozeman Jedis 3293 Hidden Springs Ln Bozeman, MT 59715 Mobile: 406.595.2712 Email: mollyulvin@gmail.com