​Housing Policy

Special Olympics is an athlete-centered movement that welcomes athletes with intellectual disabilities of all abilities to participate in sports training and competition. Special Olympics is inclusive for all persons with intellectual disabilities over the age of eight and offers a Young Athletes program for individuals with intellectual disabilities under the age of eight.

The health and safety of all Special Olympics participants is of paramount importance to Special Olympics. Participants should feel that every Special Olympics event is a safe and positive experience and should not be fearful of other athletes, coaches or volunteers arranging housing for overnight events involves the consideration of a variety of factors, including the varying abilities, ages and behaviors of athletes, the availability of housing and the
costs associated with overnight accommodations.

​Without Limits-Team Galaxy programs and staff are required to meet the minimum policy requirements as outlined below. (Chaperones refer to any volunteer who is registered with the delegation that has a chaperoning role- coach, chaperone or unified partner.)

Policy

Requirements
Age– Athletes who are 14 and under may only stay with other athletes 14 and under and athletes who are 15 and over may only stay with athletes 15 and over.

• Athlete Eligibility – All Without Limits-Team Galaxy athletes attending overnight events must have a completed Special Olympics Illinois Medical and Release on file. This application must be updated every three years in order to maintain eligibility for overnight events
• Chaperone Eligibility – All Without Limits-Team Galaxy chaperones attending overnight events must be Class A Certified in order to attend with the delegation. Class A certification means that a chaperone must have completed and passed a background check and the online protective behaviors test. This certification must be completed every three years to maintain eligibility.  Chaperones must be 18 years of age & older in order to stay overnight.
• Gender: Athletes and volunteers may not share a room with an athlete or volunteer of the opposite sex. Without Limits-Team Galaxy policy is coaches will not share rooms with athletes. Without Limits-Team Galaxy may allow the following exceptions:
  • Married athletes who are both attending the event as members of a registered delegation. This exception does not apply to the spouse of an athlete who is not participating in the event, but attending solely as a spectator.
  • Married volunteers who are both attending the event as members of a registered delegation and both have a Class A certification.
  • Family members of the opposite sex who serve as a one-to-one chaperone for the related athlete and have a Class A certification.
  • Housing in a facility that has multiple private rooms in addition to living space (such as a condominium or dormitory). Both males and females may be assigned to one condominium, if necessary, but private rooms may not be shared by individuals of the opposite sex. Coaches must also be housed in the condominium and the coach/athlete ratio (as outlined in the supervision section of the policy) must be maintained at all times.
  • Use of barracks or other facility (such as a gym) where a large number of individuals are assigned to one room. Athletes and volunteers must be separated as much as possible by gender (for example, females on one side of the gym and males on the other side)
• Non-registered participants – Special Olympics Illinois encourages family members and friends to attend all events as spectators. People who are not registered to attend with your delegation are not permitted to stay in housing, even if the person is a family member or guardian. Again, the safety of our athletes and chaperones are of utmost importance not only to your delegation, but others who are staying in the dorms/hotel or other housing arrangements. Without Limits-Team Galaxy must ensure that everyone who is staying with the delegation is an approved Class A volunteer. Failure to comply with this will cause our delegation to incur fees and may place yourself and/or your delegation on probation at future events.
• Supervision - The coach/athlete ratio of at least one properly registered coach to every four athletes must be maintained during overnight events. Proper supervision will be maintained without having a coach present in the room at all times. Note: Without Limits-Team Galaxy policy is coaches/chaperones will not share rooms with athletes

Young Athletes: 
Young Athletes events that involve overnight activities require increased supervision and therefore, Young Athletes participants must be accompanied by a properly registered and screened parent, guardian or an individual designated by a parent or guardian at all overnight activities. Rooming assignments for Young Athletes should be separate from the remainder of the delegation, whenever possible (for example, separate hotel rooms).

Best Practices
Without Limits-Team Galaxy should consider the following best practices when assigning housing for our delegation.

1. Consider matching athletes by size, level of maturity, ability and age, keeping within them assigned age groupings. (i.e., you may not want to put a 15-year-old athlete with a 40 year old athlete.)
2. Whenever possible, each member of the delegation should be assigned their own bed.
3. Ensure that athletes know how to find a chaperone at all hours of the night by putting either color pieces of paper on doors to designate rooms with chaperones or by putting up signs on doors with chaperones and athletes first or last names only. It is not recommended to put anyone’s first and last names on doors.
4. Do not prop outside entrance doors open as this could encourage theft and the possibility of people that athletes are unfamiliar with entering their dormitory area.

Implementation --- This policy will be implemented immediately (8 June 2023).