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Athletes are required to complete this paperwork in order to compete. Click here to view the form. You can complete the first portion of the athlete registration form online and then download/print the PDF to bring to your doctor’s office to complete the physical exam portion of the medical form. Completed paperwork can be scanned and emailed to paperwork@vtso.org or mailed to the Special Olympics Vermont Office (16 Gregory Drive, Suite 2, South Burlington, VT 05403).

Complete the form online here.

Please fill out the World & USA Games Interest Form here, and review the World and USA Games Selection Requirements by clicking here.

Athletes want to perform their best at every competition. You can do this by being fit. Fit 5 is a plan for physical activity, nutrition, and hydration. It can improve your health and fitness to make you the best athlete you can be. Click here for the printable Fit5 Resource Guide!

Fit 5 Fitness Cards offer activities for all abilities that are categorized under the four different (but equally important) types of exercise: endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. The Fitness Cards exercises can be done at practice, at the gym, or even at home! You can download the full list of Fit 5 Fitness Cards by clicking here. To find video demonstrations of many of the exercises, click here and scroll down the page!

Please click herefor a checklist all forms needed for athletes to return to activity! It contains the 4 forms required for athletes to begin practicing: Athlete Registration & Medical Form, Program Information Form, SOVT COVID-19 Waiver, and the Participant Code of Conduct & Risk Waiver. You can also find each form and the checklist in our Return to Activity Google Drive.

This cookbook is a collection of recipes for healthy snack ideas submitted by members of the SOVT community including athletes, coaches, and staff members! Our friends at Special Olympics New York did something similar last year, which inspired SOVT athlete, Courtney Cowan, to make our very own SOVT cookbook! Click here to view the cookbook - you can also print it once you've downloaded it!

Green Mountain Self-Advocates (GMSA) is a Vermont Self-Advocacy organization run by people with developmental disabilities. Groups meet to listen to each other, make new friends, learn about their rights and more. Click here to visit their website! GMSA hosts weekly Zoom meetings featuring a range of topics: including including Cooking with David on Tuesday's at 2pm and discussions on relevant topics on Wednesday's at 3pm. The meetings are a great way to connect with others. Click here for the Zoom link to most meetings.

The Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC) shares a variety of resources for people of all ages with intellectual disabilities. Click here to visit their website! SARTAC hosts Zoom meetings covering a variety of topics on Monday's and Thursday's at 1pm. Click here for the Zoom link and click here to view their latest Zoom meeting topics.

You can download, print, and fill out this booklet to prepare for a trip to the doctor's office. You should bring this with you to your visit and present it to your doctor! Click here to view the booklet and download the PDF.

From Missy Shea, SOVT President & CEO:

"The morning my vaccine was scheduled, I felt excited and nervous. It reminded me of the Penguin Plunge - I was going to do something a little bit hard and scary, but for a very good cause. I drove to Richford, a small town I'd never been before, about an hour away, where there was a pop-up clinic at an American Legion. The instructions said to arrive no more than 15 min. before my scheduled appointment, so I waited in my car in the parking lot and listened to my favorite music.

When the time came, I walked to the front door. A very nice man greeted me by saying hello. It turns out he was a volunteer, retired from a career with Green Mountain Coffee. He drove from Stowe early that morning just to help at the clinic because he really believes in how important getting vaccinated is and he wants to help people. He was so nice! He asked me the standard Covid questions about how I was feeling and whether I had traveled. He took my temperature with a digital thermometer, at my forehead. I think I signed a paper saying that I agreed to get vaccinated. He showed me some chairs in the next room where I could wait until it was my turn. I didn't have to wait very long, a couple of minutes. A few other people were waiting, too. Everyone was so nice! They were excited, and a little bit scared, but so happy to be getting vaccinated so that they could be safe and help keep others safe, and so we can all get back to normal activity. We felt connected, like we were in it together.

When they called my name, I went into a little vaccine station, surrounded by curtain screens so there was a little privacy. There were two women - one a medical professional (I don't know if she was a doctor or a nurse) and one an assistant. They were so nice! One explained what was going to happen. This may sound funny, but I was so happy to be getting vaccinated that I wanted a photo. I was going to take a selfie, but the woman giving me my shot asked the other woman if she would take a picture for me with my phone, and she did. I pushed my sleeve out of the way so that the skin on my upper arm was accessible. She cleaned it with an alcohol swab. Then she put a small round band aid on me, with a circle in the center. She had the shot all ready to go and put it right in the center of the band aid. I' not sure everyone does it this way. If they don't then they put a band aid on afterward. The whole procedure took less than three minutes, from when I sat down to when I was done. The shot itself was a bit painful, a kind of pinching or sting. But I knew it would be, so I just took deep belly breaths, and squeezed one hand with the other to focus on a different sensation in my body. I didn't like the feeling of getting the shot, but I really liked getting vaccinated, so I just did it. And really, it was so quick, it wasn't that hard to endure.

After, I went to a little waiting area to sit for 15 min. to make sure that I was doing ok after my shot. I felt fine, good even though my arm was a little sore. Again, there were a few other people sitting waiting, some the same as before my vaccination. We all had huge smiles! We asked each other how we were doing, and shared a little bit about where we lived, our experience of signing up online for the vaccine, and how happy and grateful we were to finally be vaccinated.

After 15 minutes, I left. We said goodbye to one another and wished each other well. As I drove back home, I felt so grateful, so happy, and freer than I had felt in over a year. Honestly, it was a great experience for me."

From Lauren Mauter, SOVT Director of Development:

"I was so thrilled to be able to schedule my first vaccine! I live in Waterbury, VT and was excited to see that my local Shaw’s supermarket was offering vaccinations at the pharmacy. I felt comfortable and calm knowing I was going to a place I have been a million times to pick up my groceries.

On the morning of my vaccine, I arrived at the Shaw’s pharmacy to find only me and one other woman who was scheduled for the same time. It was a VERY different experience than I had heard or seen from watching the news. I walked over to a table that had registration forms, and then promptly, the pharmacist called me up to check me in. She asked me the typical Covid questions (travelling, how was I feeling, etc.) The pharmacist was so incredibly kind and patient as we talked about the vaccine and any concerns I might have.

Once we were done talking, she asked me to meet her at the pharmacy door where she let me in to a small, private room. This is typically the room where they do consultations and flu vaccinations. I rolled up my sleeve where she gave me my shot in my left shoulder – I picked that arm because I knew that it might be a bit sore, and I sleep on my right side. I was so surprised when she said she was done because I could barely feel it! She then gave me a band aid, my vaccine card and then asked me to sit and wait in the waiting area. I have some allergies in my medical history, so I was asked to wait 30 minutes instead of the typical 15 minutes most others have to wait.

While I was waiting, the other woman who also had her vaccine had to wait in the same area as me. We ended up talking to each other because we were both a little nervous after getting the vaccine. Well, forty-five minutes passed, and we were having a great time getting to know one another, sharing about our lives and exchanging phone numbers – I had made a friend while also getting vaccinated! This certainly reinforced to me the very BIG reason I made the choice to get the vaccine – I miss my friends, my family and the chance to meet new people because of the pandemic. I’m excited to be getting my second dose, and to also get to see my new friend Beth."