Special Olympics Program
USA Cheer has proudly partnered with Special Olympics to promote athlete safety. This program includes background checks for coaches as well as educational courses that cover coaching young athletes with special abilities, recognizing athlete maltreatment, risk management, skill progressions, concussion awareness, and heat illness.
The Special Olympics – Coaching & Safety Certification contains a two-part comprehensive training that covers the responsibilities of coaching athletes with a disability as well as covering the risks involved with coaching cheerleading and how to address this risk. Each part can be taken separately. In each part, the training video can be watched as many times as possible, but once the exam for that part is started, it must be completed before closing any windows. Answers will not be saved.
The USA Cheer Coaching Athletes with Disabilities Course (Part 1) covers being an active coach, working with young athletes, creating a positive experience, motivating athletes, and the benefits of athletic participation.
This course is ideal for coaches who work with athletes with disabilities seeking to increase their knowledge. If you are under the age of 18, the training is still available but check with your Special Olympics Program regarding specifics on becoming a certified Special Olympics Coach.
The USA Cheer Special Olympics Safety & Risk Management Course (Part 2) is based on the USA Cheer Safety & Risk Management Course, the standard of care for cheer-related sports and activities. It is based on USA Cheer’s Cheerleading Safety Manual (4th edition).
It covers the topics of safety awareness, legal responsibilities, medical responsibilities, environmental safety factors, safety equipment, spotting, performer readiness, skill progressions, and levels of participation.
This course is ideal for coaches and administrators seeking to increase their knowledge of the important safety factors in cheerleading and cheer-related activities as well as methods to minimize risk.